Only Paws and Whiskers
by albinoraven666
Summary: The Pride lands is peaceful again, and Kiara has given birth to three beautiful cubs. But how will the pride react when their future king, turns out to be a bit different than most lions? romance, violence, and situations. rating might change.
1. Almost Lost

It had been a long time since the grass of the Pride Lands stood still, undisturbed by the winds of panic and fear. A long time since the river had run fresh with water not stained by the evil of blood and death. The rein of Scar had become a fleeting memory, seen only in nightmares or whispered in conversation of how the land was a happier place now. And with the final threat of Zira lost to time, and peace made with the Outsiders, the Pride Lands finally had the chance to breath in the calm air and mend itself after two generations of evil.

King Simba finally had his chance to prove that he could rule a land without threat, and after proving himself twice in the threat of evil, he had the pride, and the kingdoms full support. He finally had the chance to follow in his fathers paw prints and leave this world as one of the Great Kings. The aging Simba had little to worry about and so much to be thankful for. He had his beloved Nala, and his dear daughter Kiara. Even the possible threat of being overthrown was turned away when Kiara won over the heart of the once threatening Kovu, and in return Kovu had won the heart of the pride; including Simba.

Simba wasn't the only one who finally received the peace and rest she deserved. Sarabi, queen to Mofasa and mother to Simba, had lived through several horrible generations. She lost her friend Taka, otherwise known as Scar, to evil and hatred. She lost her husband to his tainted claws. She had suffered through the rein of Scar, and watched as hyenas tore apart her hated, but child hood, friend. When things finally got better, and she had a brand new grand daughter to brighten her days, her land was once again threatened by hate. She fought in the war against Zira, and suffered battle wounds along with the rest of the pride. And now, in her old years, she finally had the chance to rest her old bones and get some well-deserved rest.

The new-found peace wasn't the only positive thing brought to the Pride Lands. Kiara, soon to be queen along with her wonderful mate, Kovu, was expecting. Simba was proud and excited for them. It had been a long time since a king had seen his grandson. Simba's grandfather had died before Simba's birth, Mofasa had been murdered before meeting Kiara. But finally; a king could rest in peace knowing, for certain, that his child had found happiness and that the family line would be passed down. The same could be said for Sarabi. It was unusual for a lioness to live long enough to meet her great grand daughter.

Kiara was a young mother, that was certain, but no one seemed to mind. The thought of cubs was getting everyone excited. Kovu was a nervous wreck, however, despite the joy. Of course he looked forward to having cubs of his own, but he had hoped that he would have time to prepare and mature first. He was expected to be the next King of the Pride Lands, and that was enough pressure on its own. Now he was to raise children during the training that Simba was giving him to be king. Regardless, he got himself around that stress and supported Kiara during the pregnancy. He treated every day like a blessing. Even the day that he first found out. He remembered it well.

…

Kovu had been out on a training session with Simba. Simba had been teaching him everything that his mother could not; helping him to forget all the hate he had drilled into his skull. Simba had taken him to the elephant grave yard. It was out of their boundaries, but it was important for a king to know where dangers still remained. Yes, the hyenas had gone, but this area would need to be patrolled regardless.

"So this is where Scar met the hyenas?" Kovu had asked curiously. Scar was scarcely talked about, but Kovu and Simba talked of him often.

Simba didn't mind, though the mention of his demonic uncle still brought back bad memories. He knew it was important that Kovu understood Scar and his mistakes. That way, Kovu would know the wrong way to rule a kingdom, and in knowing so he could be the king Scar never could be. "Yes. I do not know how he met them, my father never told me anything. But my mother says that Scar lived a lonely cub-hood. My guess would be the hyena's filled that void. He could finally be considered the best, the leader of someone."

Kovu nodded and approached the giant elephant skull that still stood guard over the grave yard… A haunting guardian that served as a constant reminded of the hyenas, and Scar's madness. "I wonder who corrupted who…."

Simba was about to answer when the flapping of wings disturbed the lesson. Zazu flew in swiftly, landing on the peek of the skulls right tusk. "Forgive me, Sire, but Queen Nala sent for you. Rifiki has just been summoned to Pride Rock. Kiara seems ill."

Simba's eyes widened with concern. "Thank you, Zazu." He said in a hurried tone. "Kovu lets--" he didn't finish his sentence. He turned to look at Kovu but he had already darted out of the graveyard. Simba couldn't help but smile, despite the concern for his daughter; that cub loved Kiara so much. Putting away his thoughts, he rushed back to the pride.

Kovu had already arrived, out of breath, but far too concerned to care. He sat near Sarabi, who was giving Rifiki and Kiara their space. All but Nala stood back. As Simba walked in he frowned at Rifiki.

"What's wrong with her?" He asked, looking into the eyes of his daughter who weakly smiled at him. "Rifiki?"

Rifiki smiled and looked at Simba. "Ah, Simba. It was just a stomachache. I think she will be fine." He said, stroking Kiara's fur gently.

Nala looked at Rifiki; unsure of his diagnosis. "Are you sure? She was awfully sick a half hour or so ago."

"Betta' start getting use to it, my queen." Rifiki said with a smile before turning to Kovu. "This will be a regular thing. At least until she delivers."

Kovu's jaw dropped a little, and Simba looked at Rifiki with surprised eyes. "She is pregnant." Rifiki said with a big smile.

The cave broke out into happy cheers. Simba and Nala nuzzled their daughter, whispering words of praise and encouragement. Sarabi smiled at Kovu, nudging him slightly with her shoulder.

"Congratulations, Kovu." She said with a smile, chuckling as she noted that the expression of surprise had not left his face. She gestured her head to the smiling Kiara. "Well, go on then, Silly."

Kovu snapped out of his trance and shook his head, as if to come back to reality. Slowly he stood up and walked over to Kiara. "Hey there." He said with a smile, unsure of what to say as he nuzzled the nose of his wife.

"Hey there, Daddy." She said with bright eyes and a chuckle as she returned the gesture of love.

Simba smiled fondly at his daughter and then looked to Kovu. "Well, you lucky lion. Seems like your going to be a father." He said with smile.

"A father?" Kovu said, almost like it was a question as he looked to Simba with concerned eyes. Kovu wondered if he would make a good father. He never really had one of his own, and the only real fatherly influence he has was from a mad-lion who smoke through the madness of his mother. But, as if he had read Kovu's mind, Simba gave him a smile. A smile that told Kovu that everything would be ok. Turning back to Kiara he smiled lovingly. "A father…"

…

That day had been three months ago and since then, Kiara's stomach had grown larger. This far into the pregnancy meant that life for her was a bit boring. She was no longer fast enough to keep up in the hung; not that Simba or Kovu would approve of such activities with her in her current condition. She was tired a lot of the time, many hours were spent resting. Kovu spent as much time with her as possible. Every hour not spent during lessons was spent with Kiara, grooming her, running his nose gently over her enlarged stomach.

"How many do you think we will have?" Kovu asked her with a smile, playfully nipping at her before moving closer with her to snuggle.

Rolling onto her back she gently swatted him for the love bite, nuzzling her nose happily into his mane. "I don't know." She said with a sigh. "Apart from Grandfather and Scar, there have only been single births. At least that is was Daddy says."

"Yeah, I was a single cub as well. Vatani and Nuka were both older." He said, shrugging it off slightly. "One would be nice."

Kiara shook her head. "I was a single cub and it was really boring. Maybe two." She said with a smile.

Thinking about it, it did not seem like a good thing. The last time twins were born in the Pride Lands the sibling rivalry lead to death and destruction. But he wouldn't say this to Kiara. He didn't want to worry his heavily pregnant wife. "What ever the number may be, I'm sure it'll be great." He said with a smile.

Kiara smiled and fell asleep against her mate, appreciating his words. He brought her such comfort, even when things seemed uncertain. She knew all would be well, so long as he was with her.

…

A week later Kiara woke from her sleep with a short yelp. She sat upright and looked around. Kovu yawned and looked up at her. "Bad dream, Hun?" He asked sleepily, glancing over to Nala, who had also been woken up by Kiara.

Kiara shook her head and curled around, licking at her enlarged stomach. "No, it hurts." She said, wincing as her legs trembled slightly. She let out another small cry, this time waking Simba. "Kovu, I think it's time."

Kovu's eyes widened as he listened to her breathing pick up. "Oh!" He said, getting right up onto his feet. He looked to Nala, who would know the best in this situation. "What do we do?"

Nala stood and went to her daughter. "You and Simba must go summon Rifiki." She said as the lionesses slowly woke and went to Kiara. "We can help her until then."

Kovu thought it odd that he, the father of these cubs, was being sent away. But Simba nudged him and gestured his head for Kovu to follow him. Once outside, he turned to look at Kovu. "That's lioness speak for leave. They know what is best for Kiara. We would just be in the way." He said with a worried chuckle. He then looked around. "Where is Zazu when you need him?" He walked to the head of Pride Rock and let out a loud roar, brown mane shining in the soft light offered by the moon.

It wasn't long after that that the horn bill flew down to meet his king. "What can I do for you, Sire?" He asked with curiosity. It was unusual for him to be summoned at such an hour.

"Zazu, go get Rifiki, Kiara is in labor." He said in a rushed tone, his tail twitching from the nerves.

His blue feathers practically molted off of him at that moment. Such surprise, such urgency. As far as he was concerned, he was the right bird for the job. "Right away, Sire!" He squawked before flying off to Rifiki's tree.

Kovu paced around the ledge of Pride Rock; feet from the den when the lionesses comforted the uncomfortable Kiara. Rifiki had arrived quickly, but it had been a while and the cries had not stopped. Simba knew that each lioness was different when it came to delivering cubs, so he sat on the ledge. But even he grew concerned as time passed.

Sarabi would eventually come out and approach Kovu. "Congratulations, Kovu." She said with a smile, though it was faint.

Simba approached Sarabi and grinned. But his smile faded slightly when he saw the look in Sarabi's eyes. "What is it, mother?" He asked, now feeling very concerned. He knew his mother, he knew how to tell that something was wrong by looking in her eyes.

Sarabi addressed Kovu, as they were his cubs, but talked to both. "Kiara birthed three cubs." She said, but frowned slightly.

"Well, that's good right?" Kovu asked. He felt like this should be happy news. But why was Sarabi acting so strange.

Sarabi let out a sad sigh. "We lost one." She said, looking at Kovu with apologetic eyes.

Simba looked at Kovu with just as much sympathy, but Kovu didn't care about that right now. He darted into the den without permission and ran up to the group. Kiara was crying, and Rifiki was cradling the lifeless cub. Kovu's eyes fell upon the small male cub. The little creature had orange-red fur, with beige patches where his stomach, paws and jaw was. With sadness in his eyes he turned to Rifiki.

"What happened?!" He demanded, his sadness turning to anger. He panted hard. This was meant to be a happy evening, but he lost a cub. This wasn't suppose to happen.

Rifiki was not upset with Kovu's burst of anger. He understood it. Calmly, and sadly, he rubbed the cubs back. "I am not sure. He was the first-born… It is unusual that the first-born dies in childbirth. I believe that he must have had a birth defect." He was cautious how he used his words, listening to the tears coming from the heart broken mother.

Kovu looked at the cub, then walked to Kiara, head hung sadly. His eyes rest upon the two survivors. One female, a light beige with the same mark on her forehead his mother had. And a little male, a yellow color like Simba, but features with that of Kiara. Turning back to the shaman he looked at him with pleading eyes.

"Can't you do anything?" He asked sadly. Even though he had not met this cub, even though he had not witnessed his birth he felt that his family was no longer whole.

Rifiki shook his head and placed the cub near Kiara. "I am sorry, I have done all that I can do. Something's just happen. No one knows what the circle of life has planned." He said with regret.

Kiara was unable to look at the cub, she sobbed into her mothers fur as her father went to comfort Kovu. Simba was sad, he had lost a grandson, but he understood that he could not possibly feel as much grief as his son-in-law. "I'm sorry." Was all he could say.

Kovu nodded and lay down, using his paws to gently scoop the lifeless cub to his chest. The little creatures head rest against his mane, his eyes closed. Leaning down, Kovu nuzzled the little chest; the cub was still wet from the birth. Even though it was pointless, Kovu began to lick the cub clean.

Then, just as Kovu had begun to accept the cubs fate, a small choking noise came from the cub. His ears perked and he instantly looked to Rifiki. "Did you hear that?!" He demanded. He would then begin to lick more rapidly at the cub. It worked before, why not a second time. "Come on, little cub."

A second noise came from the cub, as life slowly came into the cub one twitch at a time. The Pride, and Rifiki, heard it this time. "He is alive." The baboon said with amazement.

Kiara stopped crying, watching with every ounce of hope in her body as Kovu continued to lick at the cub. Slowly, the cub was moving about, squealing for his mother as all cubs did at birth. Cheers came from around the cave as Rifiki stepped forward.

"Alright Kovu, enough." He said with a happy laugh. "He needs to nurse." With that he scooped up the small cub and brought it to a now tearful, happy Kiara.

Kovu watched with a grin on his face as Kiara tenderly licked the cub as it nursed. Simba approached Kovu and placed a paw on his shoulder. "Good job, Kovu." He said with a smile. "A few minutes into it, and you're already a great father."

Kovu smiled at him and chuckled. "I don't know what happened, but I'm not going to question it." He said with a smile. He let out a long sigh and walked to Kiara, who nuzzled against him happily.

"I'm so happy." She told him, crying from happiness now rather than sorrow.

Kovu's eyes rest upon the three nursing cubs. Wow… Three cubs. He was going to have his paws full. But he smiled at her and snuggled against her. "So am I."


	2. Doubt

Some time had passed since the birth of the three cubs. After the little scare with almost loosing a prince, the pride worried that their bad luck had not left. But things had been fine since the birth of the cubs. Amadi, a name appropriately meaning 'fated to die at birth' , had not had any other health problems since and had grown into a healthy cub.

Walking out of the den, Amadi walked to the peek of pride rock. Even though the rest of the pride slept, Amadi found great pleasure in watching the sunrise. The little cub, though young, saw beauty in everything. He use to try to wake up his siblings, Dumaka and Dalia to join them. But they would rather sleep. He learnt to accept this.

Every now and then, however, he would run into his great grand mother. Sarabi walked out of the den, slowly now as she was growing close to her final days, and approached Amadi.

"Up early again, little prince." She said softly, nuzzling the cubs red toned fur as she lay beside him. She loved all of her great grand children, but she secretly favored Amadi. Though Scar was supposedly not Kovu's father, Amadi resembled Scar. Sarabi saw her old friend Taka in this young cub. She had mad a lot of mistakes with Taka, she blamed a lot of what happened on her. She was determined to make up for it.

"Yes, Nana." Amadi said in a soft gentle tone, his green eyes looking up at Sarabi with happiness before looking back to the horizon. "I just like to watch it. It's pretty."

Everyone in the pride considered Amadi to be slightly different to the other cubs. His visual image was a haunting reminder of Scar, but at the same time he was the gentlest creature to ever walk the land. He couldn't kill small animals for play; he only killed when he was hungry, he tried his best not to break the blades of glass when he walked, and he really wasn't very fond of wrestling. Sarabi considered him to be a very wise cub, but the rest of the pride worried about how the future king could protect the pride if he didn't have an ounce of brutality.

"You know that your parents don't like you wandering around when everyone else is sleeping." She said gently, running her tongue gently over his neck and head.

He rolled onto his stomach, lavishing in the love and attention from his great grand mother. "I'm not wandering. I'm staying on Pride Rock." He said with a giggle. "I'm not going to get in much trouble up here."

She looked down at him, nuzzling against his beige stomach. "I know." She said simply. She never really had to worry about Amadi getting in much trouble. Unlike his brother, Dumaka, who was like Simba in every way and got into trouble constantly, Amadi was cautious. "What do you think your going to do today?"

He twisted back onto his stomach, giggling from being tickled on his stomach, and looked at the sunset again. "Daddy is taking us to the river." He said with a smile. "He said something about knowing the dangers of crocodiles and that the river is the marking of the next land. The lionesses say that the river is a pretty place as well. Why don't you come with us, Nana?"

Sarabi shook her head. "It is too long of a walk for me, Amadi." She said with a faint smile. She didn't leave Pride Rock that much anymore unless it was to the watering hole. She was old, she could no longer hunt. But she didn't mind, her days were finally peaceful. And she always had the cubs around her to make her feel happy.

He nodded. He really didn't understand age that well. He knew that Sarabi was old, but he did not know what that meant. But there had not been a death in the pride since the fall of Zira, so how could he understand it? But at the same time, he understood death. He remembered the first time he and his siblings went playing in the tall grass. Dumaka had found a field mouse and killed it. Dumaka was proud of himself, like most cubs should be. Learning to hunt was a vital skill that needed to be learnt. But all Amadi could feel was sadness for the mouse. He didn't say anything, but he claimed to be tired when Dumaka and Dalia started to play a cub version of soccer with the mouse.

He looked at her and smiled. "Well, that's ok. We can play when I come back." He said, his ears perking up happily as he pounced on Sarabi's back. He loved his Nana; she was his favorite person in the whole pride; apart from his own parents, of course. She was the only one who really understood the eccentric little cub.

She smiled faintly and nodded. "Of course."

It was then that Kovu came out of the den, Dalia and Dumaka following in his wake. "Good morning, Sarabi." He said to her respectfully, and then looked to Amadi. "Ready, sport?"

Amadi hopped off of Sarabi and ran to his father. "See you later, Nana!" He yelled behind him as he followed Kovu off of Pride Rock into the morning glow.

Sarabi did not return the saying. She nodded and smiled, following the cub with her eyes until they were too far to see. She then stood, and walked along the side of Pride rock, to lay in the crevice that Scar use to call 'his favorite place.' Sighing in the memory of the place, she hoped that little Amadi would live a happy life, and be treated far better than anyone had treated Taka. She held comfort that the cub was innocent, that she had done her job to nurture his gentle nature. She didn't have to worry, just rest. She was tired. So very tired.

…

"Are we there yet, Dad?" Dumaka asked, trialing behind Kovu, occasionally kicking at small rocks. Dumaka was a active soul. He enjoyed playing, running, and anything that exerted energy. He was a whirlwind, he didn't stop until he tired himself our or if he got himself in trouble.

Kovu smirked slightly. "Just a few more minutes." He said with a smile. Dumaka was tiresome a lot of the time, but of course Kovu loved him.

Dumaka was born the middle child. His fur was golden, like Simba, but had a little tuff of dark hair that resembled Kovu's. The only thing over than his tuft of main that resembled Kovu was his nose. It was the typical outsider, pointed black nose. But that seemed to be a dominant gene; the only cub in the threesome that had a pride-lander nose was Dalia.

Dalia was the last born, and the little female of the group. She had Kiara's color, a pride lander's nose, but surprisingly resembled Zira. The stripe down her forehead, shape of her face and eyes all resembled Zira. If it weren't for the more rounded figure that Kiara gave her, she would have been a little Zira look alike. But despite her resemblance to Zira, she was kind and fair. She had a bit of a caddy side, but quick scolding from her parents often put that to an end.

"What's so exciting about a river?" Dalia asked curiously to Amadi, whispering so her father wouldn't hear. "I want to go to the gorge again, that was fun."

Amadi gave her a look and shook his head. "The river could be fun too. Lot's of stuff happens at the river, I bet." He said with a positive tone. "There is always lots to do around water."

"Yea I guess." Dalia said, a bit happier about their destination now.

"Alright, you three, we're here." Kovu said, walking through a patch of tall grass to the bank of the river. "Now the first thing to know is safety. If you need to drink some water, ask me so I can watch you. And stay out of the water completely; I don't want the crocodiles to get to you. Explore, but remember, stay out of the water."

The cubs nodded, then ran down the bank of the river, keeping a good few feet from the water. They were weary of the giant lizard that lingered at the water's edge. Kovu found a perch on a fallen tree so he could see them at a distance.

"So what do you guys want to do?" Amadi asked as Dumaka and Dalia ran into a patch of tall grass.

"I don't know." Dalia said, stopping and sitting down in a soft patch of grass.

Dumaka jumped up on a rock and looked down at his siblings. He began to think. This place was pretty cool, he decided. Tons of places to run and hide and play on. "What about hide and seek?" He asked with a smile.

Dalia smirked and hopped up. She nodded, and together Dalia and Dumaka shouted. "NOT IT!"

Amadi scowled. He should have seen this coming. He was always it. "Alright, fine." He said, letting out a sigh. "No going near the water, and you have 10 seconds to hide." He then curled up and covered his eyes with his paws. "1…..2….."

Dumaka wasted no time in darted towards the bank of the river, hoping to find a log or a tree to hide in. Dalia was the huntress of the group, she knew to stalk off silently into the tall grass. Amadi may have been a gentle soul, but he was a good stalker. His observant nature made it easy for him to sneak up and find pray; she knew to be much more quiet than her easily excited older brother, Dumaka.

"9….10. Ready or not, here I come!" he announced, standing up. He looked around, smelling the air with his ears perked. He knew that one of them went bounding off into the direction of the river; it was probably Dumaka… He wasn't too stealthy. He would find him first, because he knew that he would need his brothers help to find his clever sister.

Silently, he began to stalk towards the river, ears and eyes alert as little paws walked onto the softer ground by the river. Kovu, who normally had such a good eye on his cubs, had been interrupted by Zazu who had come to talk to him about something Simba told him. The cubs were not being watched, so Kovu could not see the mischief Dumaka had started.

Dumaka had approached the waters edge, and climbed up into a rather pathetic looking tree. Amadi saw paw-prints as he approached the river. The ground was softer here, so it would have been almost impossible for Dumaka to not leave tracks. Following the prints, Amadi saw that they went right up to a river, where a herd of zebra were drinking. Stopping, he became worried. He had been warned not to approach the river. But he decided that if the zebra were drinking there that it must be safe; maybe the crocodiles were not in this part of the river.

Following the prints, Amadi came to a tree. Looking up he saw Dumaka on a low branch. He grinned and propped his front paws on the tree. "Found you! Your out!" he announced, laughing as he forgot the dangers of the river. "Now come down."

Dumaka, being his usual self, shook his head and laughed. "Have to get me first." He taunted.

"What?!" Amadi asked angrily, his ears flicking back. His brother always did this type of stuff. "That's not how the game goes!"

"It is now." Dumaka said with a laugh, laying on the branch, a good 7 feet from the river below. "And I'm not coming down until you catch me."

Amadi grumbled and extended his claws. "Fine." He mumbled, hopping up onto the tree trunk and climbing up the tree. He struggled a little bit, but then crawled onto the branch. He did not go too far out onto the branch. "C'mon, Du, cut this out! The branch is too thin."

"Nope, you gotta catch me!" He said stubbornly, pretty far out on the branch.

Amadi slowly began to make his way forward, well balanced but nervous. Several Zebra took a break from drinking to watch the cubs curiously. Amadi's bravery slowly grew as he grinned at his brother. He then pounced at his brother. "Gotcha!"

But as he jumped forward, Dumaka jumped up onto the branch above. Amadi gasped, and as his front paws hit the branch he slipped, and the awful sound of cracking came from the branch. In that instant, the river was chaos. The cracking noise had spooked the herd of zebra, and sent them darting into the water. This excited the crocks waiting in the water. Suddenly, many jaws snapped out of the water and attacked the zebra. The cries of injured and drowning zebra filled the air as Amadi clung to life on the thin branch which was slowly bending and cracking lower.

Amadi stared in horror at the scene below; fearful that he would fall into it, and disturbed by the slaughter itself. The feeling grew worse as he watched his brother climb off of the tree. He was leaving him. "Dumaka, wait! Help!" He yelled out, tears coming to his eyes as he tried to scramble back onto the branch. But every time he did the branch broke a bit more. "DADDY!"

Kovu and Zazu's attention had been drawn to the crocodile attack. But neither of them expected to hear the cry from Amadi. Kovu's eyes widened and he jumped into action, sprinting into the scene. He didn't know how he would get past the spooking zebra or the crocodiles, but he would have to try. "Amadi!" he yelled, trying to figure out what to do.

Dalia had come running from the grass, letting out a gasp as she saw her brother hanging feet above the chaos. She glared at Dumaka. "What did you do! We weren't suppose to go near the water!" she scolded, darting towards Amadi. Zazu flew in front of the cubs and shook his head.

"No, children, stay back!" Zazu said, determined to keep the two cubs safe from harm as Kovu ran to Amadi's aid.

The cubs watched in terror as Kovu dodged his way through the herd of zebra. He eventually got to the tree, but it was a small tree, there was no way he would be able to climb it. He took his chances and stepped into the water, going to the other side of the tree. "Hold on, Amadi!" He yelled as he reared up, putting his paws against the trunk. Pushing with all his weight, he began to bend the thin tree back away from the river.

Amadi held his tightest as the tree slowly bent away from the river and over the ground where panicked zebra stumbled their way away from the river and the crocodiles.

Kovu looked over his shoulder, checking for crocks. They were too busy feasting on the zebra. "Amadi, let go of the branch!" He yelled over the chaos, eyes watching his son.

Amadi did as he was told and dropped to the ground, where he landed with a thump, rolling a foot or so right under the feet of the zebra. Kovu let the tree spring back to its normal pose as he leapt from the river, grabbing his son by the scruff, and darted into the grass. Zazu had already lead the other cubs to safer ground. Once they were far enough away from the panic he set the trembling Amadi down.

Panting, Kovu looked to the river, then down at Amadi. "What did I tell you about the river?!" he demanded, his voice trembling from the fear that he could have lost his son a second time.

Amadi flinched, and remained in a trembling ball as Kovu yelled. He was too terrified to speak. Dumata stayed back, knowing full and well that this was his fault, but he said nothing. Eventually, it was Dalia who ran up to Amadi and lay over him.

"Daddy, it wasn't his fault!" Dalia yelled at her father. "We were playing hide and seek, I went into the grass, but Du was the one who climbed the tree. He made Amadi go after him!"

Kovu shot his eyes to Dumaka. "Son, I am very disappointed in you!" he yelled, baring his teeth a little. "Your always so reckless, pushing boundaries and playing pranks. You could have killed your own brother!" Those words rung through his mind, reminding him of what his own mother had said to him when Nuka died. Slowly, his face moved from anger to just disappointment.

Dumaka hung his head low, his tail curled around his body. "I'm sorry daddy…Sorry Amadi." He mumbled, disappointed with himself.

Kovu sighed and looked down to Amadi, lowering his head to his son's level. "Are you alright?" He asked gently; the cub had obviously been quite shaken.

Amadi nodded silently, but didn't speak. He was still terrified. The surprising thing was that the event itself, not nearly dying, was what traumatized him. It was the crocodile attack. Being hunt by a broken branch, watching dozens of zebra just be slaughtered had greatly disturbed him. Maybe if they had not been on the branch, the noise wouldn't have spooked them. Then they wouldn't have run into the water to their deaths. There was just so much blood, and the sound of death took his words away.

Kovu stood back up. "let's go home." He said, taking a few steps. They walked a few steps, then Kovu noticed that there were only two cubs at his side. Looking over his shoulder he saw that Amadi had not moved. Kovu turned around, picked up the upset cub by his scruff, and then walked home.

…

When they arrived back at pride rock, Kiara was waiting. She smiled at Kovu. "Well, did you four have fun?" She asked, but as they grew closer she could tell something was wrong. "What's wrong?"

She looked at Amadi and gasped, the cub was still trembling. "Amadi? What's wrong with him?" She asked as Kovu put the cub down. She moved to her cub and lay down, pulling the cub to her. "Hunny, what's wrong?"

Amadi did not say anything, so Kovu explained what happened, with Dalia's help. Dumaka stayed quiet the whole time, knowing he was in trouble. Kiara was upset now and shook her head.

Leaning down, Kiara nudged Amadi. "Why don't you and Dalia go find your Nana." She said softly, knowing that Sarabi was the best at cheering Amadi up.

Amadi nodded, and walked into the den to find Sarabi. Meanwhile, Kovu and Kiara had some harsh words to deliver to Dumaka. After a while, Dumaka, Kovu and Kiara walked into the den. Simba and Nala were sitting by Sarabi as the old lioness comforted Amadi. Amadi had fallen asleep on Sarabi's arms.

Simba looked at Dumaka with disappointment, then looked at Kiara. "Amadi fell asleep… Poor kid is exhausted." He said softly.

Kiara looked Dumaka. "You can apologize tomorrow." She said to her son. "Now, I think you and Dalia should go get some sleep."

Dumaka nodded, and went with Dalia to their usual sleeping place. Sarabi said it was find for Amadi to sleep with her. Kiara went to join her other cubs, but Simba requested to speak with Kovu.

Outside on Pride Rock, Simba expressed concern about Amadi. Yes, it was Dumaka who taunted Amadi onto the tree. But Amadi went regardless. He gave into the pressure of his brother, he was too eager to please, to be accepted; a trait that was not fit for a king. Kovu defended his son, but this want to be accepted was just one thing in a long list that troubled the pride about Amadi becoming king. The fact that the cub nearly died at birth expressed weakness. And the cubs gentle soul, though admirable, was not strong enough to rule or fight if need be. No one believed that the pussy-cat of a cub would be able to hold his own in a fight.

"So what can I do about it? I am teaching him the best that I can." Kovu said sadly, looking into Simba's eyes.

"Well… When you are king you can pick who will become your heir." Simba suggested. "Dumaka is reckless and impulsive right now, I was the same way, but I see him being more fit to be king than little Amadi."

Kovu was shocked, he really didn't know what to say to that. "But the first born is meant to be king."

"Not in all cases, they were all born at the same time, so their birth is considered one. My grand father had to pick between my father and Scar." He said softly. "Usually prides stick to the first born scenario. But sometimes, for the better of the pride, a younger male is picked. I mean, you were not first born, and Zira picked you to be king."

"Yes, but that's because Nuka was an idiot." Kovu said with a sigh, still feeling pain for the loss of his brother; more so than the loss of his mother. "I don't know. I just don't feel that it is right to take that away from Amadi."

"Well, give it some time. I will help you train Amadi." He said with a smile. He didn't want to upset Kovu, just give a suggestion. "We'll turn him into a lion yet."

Kovu smiled. "Thank you, Simba."

Simba nodded. "But you must keep it in mind. Do what is best for the pride, not for your heart." And with that, he went into the den.

Kovu watched him leave, and then looked up at the sky. His heart told him that, despite Amadi's soft side, that the cub would make a fine king. Kovu was a gentle cub before Zira corrupted him. But his mind gave him doubts. Putting those doubts away, he returned to the den to rest. He was sure everything would be ok.


	3. A Day of Surprises

Word of the event that happened the previous day had spread amongst the pride. Dumaka felt horrible, everyone was seeing him as the bad guy. But what was worse was that most of the pride had the same thought that Simba expressed to Kovu the previous night. They didn't dislike Amadi, in fact, the lionesses loved his gentle nature to the fullest. But most agreed that even the noblest king had to be able to hold his own in a fight so he could defend the pride. Amadi couldn't understand this. No one said these things directly to him, but he overheard many whispers. Was it really so bad to be so gentle? Everything in the world was beautiful in some way, so why did these beautiful things need to be combated and conflicted? Did he really need to kill and play with lifeless field mice for the sake of sport? He did not understand these things.

Away from pride rock, laying somewhere in the tall grass, Amadi kept to himself; away from the whispers of the pride. To make matters worse, Dumaka was avoiding him. Amadi worried that his brother was angry at him, but in reality Dumaka was too ashamed to be near him. As for Dalia, she was out with Nala and Kiara taking hunting lessons; so he was left alone. He thought about visiting Sarabi, but Simba had told him that she was very tired.

He had been warned about wandering too far from Pride Rock alone, but he didn't care. There was not too much danger, he was relatively close. He also figured that no predator of the Pride Lands would dare kill a cub of royalty; which was quite a smart thought. The pride would defiantly go after a creature if a prince was killed, and most predators understood this.

Sighing, he rolled onto his side, letting his head rest against the grass. He watched a few bugs fly around, but then something in the grass caught his attention. Perking his ears forward, his eyes became really alert. Rolling onto his stomach he got into a crouching position. The creature was small, smaller than him. He slowly crept, putting the hunting skills that Dalia had taught him to the test. His eyes set on a little field mouse. It was instinctive when he pounced on it, trapping it gently benieth his paws. As he heard the terrified squeaking of the mouse he realized that he did not want to cause it harm. He lifted up one paw, but used the other to gently pick it up.

"Hey there little guy, I wont hurt you." He said, sitting down as the mouse crawled over his paw. The mouse did not jump from his paw, it was afraid it might hurt itself; it was very small after all. So the mouse looked at the cub, obviously frightened.

"Please do not hurt me!" the thing squeaked pathetically, trembling up at the cub. "I have a nest, with babies that need me to take care of them. Please have mercy."

How sad it was, Amadi thought, that this creature was so terrified of him. It was because he was a lion, because he pounced on it. "I wont hurt you. My name is Amadi." He said, surprised that he was having a conversation with such a small creature.

The mouse was not happy to talk to the lion, but it figured that it was its only way out. "I am Tilly." The mouse squeaked in response. "I was out gathering food."

"Oh, I am sorry. Did I make you drop it?" he asked with apologetic eyes, his eyes scanning the ground. "How about I make it up for you."

He placed the mouse on his head, where it clung desperately onto the little tuft of mane. Amadi then looked around until he came to a berry bush. He began to pluck many berries into his mouth. "now, where is your nest?" he asked, his speech slurred from the berries.

With the mouse's help, he got back to a small hole in the ground. He bend down so the mouse could hop off, then dropped the berries by the hole. The mouse looked up at him, not as afraid anymore.

"Thank you. You are a very strange, but kind lion." The mouse said, bowing his head. "I wish all lions were like you."

Amadi smiled, the mouse's words had made him much happier. "Thank you. That is one of the kindest things anyone has said to me." He said with a smile.

He then lay by the hole, watching the mouse scramble in and out of the den, bringing in a berry at a time. Once she was finished she went up to Amadi and hopped up onto his paw again. "Thank you." She said again, bowing her head respectfully.

"Your welcome." He said, but then he heard something come up behind him. It was Dumaka and Dalia.

"There you are!" Dalia said, letting out a relived sigh. "We've been looking for you everywhere, everyone was very worried about you."

Amadi didn't know what to do, he felt the little mouse begin to tremble in his paw. The other cubs spotted the mouse and instantly tensed into predator mode.

"Look, Dalia, Amadi finally grew the claws to hunt." Dumaka teased, walking around Amadi to the front of him, eyeing the mouse. "Well, are you going to kill it, or just sit there?"

Amadi glared at Dumaka. "No, I am not going to kill her." He said, standing and backing up, moving his paw protectively to his chest.

"Her? It's just a mouse. Your suppose to kill it." Dalia said, looking over Amadi's shoulder, eager to have a go at the mouse.

"Why? I'm not hungry? Why would I kill something I am not going to eat." He said, his ears back and claws extended.

"Were lions, that's what we do." Dumaka said, getting frustrated. "Why do you care so much?!"

Amadi looked down at the little mouse. "Why shouldn't I care? The first thing Grampy Simba ever taught us was that we should respect all creatures, even the ones we eat."

Dalia softened slightly, but was still confused. "but its just a mouse."

"She is not just a mouse. Look at her." He said, holding his paw out slightly. "She has the cutest little whiskers, and her fur is such a beautiful sandy color. And besides, I like her. I helped her, she is my friend. I can't eat a friend."

The mouse was still trembling, now clung to Amadi's hand. She was afraid of the two new cubs; Amadi was her only hope. She also worried about the nest full of babies right at Amadi's feet.

Dumaka rolled his eyes slightly. "Why would you befriend prey?!" He asked, it didn't make sense to him.

"Why not? You can learn a lot from those you don't understand!" Amadi shouted, his teeth bared now. "And besides, Rifiki is a baboon, and Simba tells us stories of a meercat and a warthog he was friends with! Why can't I have a friend mouse?"

Dumaka did not know what to say to this, he just rolled his eyes and walked past Amadi. "Your such a freak." He grumbled.

Dalia was more curious in the mouse now. She had listened to Amadi and what he said made sense. She was a very logical being, so long as something was explained in such a way that made sense she would accept it.

"She is kinda cute, but I best suggest you not let Dad catch you doing this, or Grampy Simba." She looked at the mouse. "Sorry we scared you, little mouse."

The mouse nodded, still afraid, but feeling better now that Dumaka had gone away. "Would you let me down now?" she asked politely.

Amadi nodded and let his paw down. "Good bye, Tilly. Nice meeting you." He said with a smile. "Be safe."

The mouse nodded, bowed, and then scampered back into the hole. Amadi sighed, hopeful that he may meet the mouse again some time. He turned to Dalia. "You wont tell Daddy, right?" He asked, a little concerned.

Dalia smiled and playfully pounced her brother. "No worries, I just hope Dumaka is as kind." She said with a laugh.

Amadi giggled loudly when he found himself on his back after being pounced. "Hey, get off me, stupid." He said, swatting her with gentle paws.

"No way, weirdo. Your gonna be king one day, you gotta learn to fight." She said, looking down at him with a smirk. She saw how he got uncomfortable at the mention of fighting and being king. "You know, you could protect all sorts of creatures, like your mouse friend, if you learnt how to fight."

This gave him a bit more motivation, he never really thought about it that way. "I can fight perfectly fine, thank you very much!" he said with a laugh, pushing her off.

Laughing, he pounced his sister, and the two cubs rolled around. Eventually Amadi hopped off and ran off. Dalia laughed and ran after him. But she stopped when she saw Amadi standing on a log, staring off into the distance.

"What's wrong?" She asked, hopping up onto the log to peer over the tall grass. A hundred yards or more away, three lionesses were walking in the direction to pride rock. There were five young cubs walking with them. "Who are they?"

Amadi shook his head. "I don't know." He said, studying the lionesses. "C'mon, we should go tell Daddy."

And with that, the two cubs hopped off the log, and ran quickly home; making sure they beat the new lionesses to Pride Rock. Dumaka was already back at Pride Rock. Kiara let out a sigh of relief when the two cubs returned.

"Where have you been?" She asked as Kovu, Simba and Nala approached.

The cubs told their story, leaving out the part about the mouse. They told the others about the strange lions approaching Pride Rock, and about the cubs. Simba and Kovu exchanged curious looks. They decided a curious welcome was in order. If the lionesses were traveling with cubs they were probably peaceful.

And so the pride went off Pride rock, meeting up with the pride of lionesses approaching the rock. The lead female, a darker colored lioness with eyes of gold, bowed her head when Simba approached.

"My name is Zahra, My Lord." She said gently. She could sense that the pride was friendly, a welcoming clan. Perhaps they would find refuge here. "We come from the west, the presence of man brought fire to our land. Half of our pride was destroyed, our king died with them. We are looking for refuge until my son, Ayo, comes of age. Then we can return with him as our king. We are proud, you see, Sire. We do not want to be taken over by a rogue, we want my husbands legacy to live on."

"I'm sorry to hear about what happened." Simba said, nodding slightly. "You and your cubs are welcome here, until he is older and then you must leave."

Zahra nodded, she understood this. There could be no other males in the pride unless they were the offspring of the royal pair. All prides were this way, and she respected it. "Thank you, M'lord. We will serve you well. We are good huntresses, we have been alone for a while, and we have surprised. We will be very useful, I can promise that."

Simba was slightly taken back by how submissive the females were. But some prides were much more reformed than others. He smiled and nodded. "Alright, I accept your service. But please, call me Simba."

"I am here with Lulu, her daughters Zalika and Ada, Tenesha, and my son Ayo." She said, pointing to all of the members of her pride individually.

Dumaka, Dalia and Amadi looked at the new cubs Salika, Ada and Ayo. They had never been around cubs outside of the pride. Dumaka and Dalia were excited. Amadi just saw this as more people he would not fit in with.

Simba took time introducing the pride, Nala, Sarabi, Kiara, Kovu and the three cubs. Amadi saw Zahra's eyes rest on him; he did not understand why. Was it because he was not what she would expect from a king to be? That's what everyone else thought, so why not them? Simba eventually finished off introductions, then guided everyone back to pride rock.

The new cubs showed hesitation when it came to meeting Amadi, Dumaka and Dalia. But Dalia quickly broke the ice, happy to see some girl cubs. "Hi!" She said with excitement, walking right up to them. "I'm Dalia!"

The cubs shyly smiled. "I'm Ada." The smallest of the lion cubs said. She was a yellowing color, with orange eyes.

"I am Zalika." A older, slender cub said. She was a reddish brown color with the most stunning blue eyes. "I'm the oldest!"

"Hardly! Only by a few months." The little male said with a chuckle. He was also a larger cub, his mane a bit more full than Dumaka's. "I'm Ayo. Nice to meet you guys."

Dumaka naturally felt the need to show off in front of the larger, new male. "I'm Dumaka, but you guys can call me Du." He said, holding his head up and chest out.

Ayo thought it was a little weird that the younger brother showed so much pride. "What about him?" Ayo asked, looking at Amadi who had not approached the new cubs with his siblings.

"That's Amadi." Dumaka said, his tone a bit off as he rolled his eyes. "Just ignore him, he's a bit weird. He couldn't even be bothered to come say hi."

Amadi shot a glare at his brother, then stood up and walked over. He had had enough of this. "I'm Amadi. And I'm the future king, though my jerk of a brother likes to forget that." He smiled at the new cubs, then shot Dumaka a glare who was quite surprised by the sudden, and unusual outburst, then looked Ayo in the eye. But he didn't hold his proud form for that long after that. He let his stance fall, and he went back to his usual passive self. His eyes dodged away from the other male cub. "Sorry…I..I'm usually not like that."

"Yea, now that's the pussy-cat of a brother I know." Dumaka said, rolling his eyes, pushing past Amadi. "What do you guys like to do for fun?"

The cubs started making plans about what games they would play, mean while Amadi slinked outside to sit on the point of Pride Rock. The cubs eventually bounded out of Pride Rock, all but Ayo completely ran past Amadi to go play.

"Hey. You know, the way you stood up to your brother was really cool. You shoulda seen his face." He said, noticing the younger cub seemed a bit depressed and was determined to cheer him up.

Amadi looked up at him, nervous at first, but then he smiled. "Really?" He asked, his voice rising from the encouraging words.

"Oh yea! He totally didn't expect it." He said with a laugh, playfully swatting at Amadi. "How about you and I go play? We'll let the others do their own thing. Besides, us future kings best stick together!"

Amadi smiled and stood up, not standing nearly as tall as the older cub. Amadi was taken by the kindness; he felt like friendship was instant with this new cub. Giggling, he jumped into a sprint, racing off the rock. "Race ya!"

Ayo laughed and ran after him. "Your on!"


	4. The Queen Rests

A month had gone by or so since the arrival of the knew lionesses and cubs, a month since Amadi met the mouse, and a month since he actually made a real friend. Since that first moment that Ayo decided to play with Amadi rather than the others the two could not be separated. Though Ayo was two months older than Amadi, the two were the closest friends. Ayo had helped Amadi learn to fight so that his brother wouldn't give him such a hard time. Amadi was a lot less reluctant to learn under Ayo's guidance. And Amadi had taught Ayo, the cub that had survived a fire and survived starving, that there was still beauty left in the world. That there was still something to look forward to.

Ayo thought this philosophy very strange in the beginning, but his mother, Zahra, noticed a positive change in him from the moment he started playing with Amadi. Kovu was happy to see a change in Amadi as well. The cub was still as gentle as a flower, but he showed more interest in learning what it took to be king. He even participated in wrestling matches; even if he rarely won.

Ayo and Amadi were out taking a walk, headed to the game trail for a curious look at the zebra herd. Amadi had grown a bit, he was taller, making his limbs look very lanky, and his form very slender. Despite being a few months old, his mane was not developing to the same rate as his brother. Dumaka, who had tufts of brown mane on his forehead, around his ears, and even on his back, often teased Amadi; saying that he looked like a lioness. This upset Amadi, but Ayo often told him it was best if he just ignored his brother; that Dumaka was just a bit jealous and didn't understand him.

"But that doesn't make sense. And it worries me. Simba and Daddy tell stories of Scar, and how he was jealous of my great grandpa. He killed him." He said, his green eyes scanning the ground. "You don't think..?"

Ayo shook his head. "Dumaka doesn't hate you. He cares about you a lot. You can tell. He just doesn't understand." He said, giving a reassuring smile, his whiskers twitching as he did.

Amadi looked up at the older Ayo and nodded. Ayo was maturing quite quickly as well. He had more of a mane than Dumaka, and was growing some muscles. Amadi could tell that he was going to be a very strong king…Stronger than Amadi belived he could be. "You always know what to say to cheer me up!" He said with a smile, nuzzling up against the others neck. "Thanks."

"Hey, cut that out. What am I, your mother?" He asked with a chuckle, using a strong paw to push Amadi right over onto his side. He looked down at Amadi and shook his head, still smiling. But then his eyes were drawn to a noise his ears picked up on. "Hey look, the lionesses are hunting!"

Amadi got up, but stood very still so not to disturb the hunt. His eyes located his own sister Dalia, then found Ada, Zalika, Nala and Kiara. He figured it must be a training session more than anything because his mother had not brought the entire pride. Though he always felt sorry for the unsuspecting zebra, he loved to watch the hunt; especially Dalia. Dalia had been trained by the best hunter in the pride; Nala. It was also amazing how well she worked with the other lionesses, picking up on every movement and reading every possible outcome. He always felt sad for Sarabi, though. He never got to see her hunt, all she did was lay in the cave. She was getting much worse now, she was hardly able to get up and get water.

"Grandmother Nala tells me stories about when she was a cub. Granny is the best huntress here, but she learnt from Nana. I wish I could have seen Nana in action." Amadi said with a chuckle.

Ayo knew that Amadi was closest to the eldest lioness. "I'm sure she was great. But I'm also sure that she is happy to be able to rest now." He said comfortingly.

Amadi nodded, what Ayo said made a lot of sense; he decided. He glanced at Ayo, he was so lucky to have such a friend. He really didn't know what he would do when Ayo left with his mother and the other new lionesses. But he tried his best not to think about that day. It was strange really; while his brother was starting to seek the companionship of the female cubs, he much rather just be around Ayo.

He was quickly snapped out his thoughts when he heard paws behind him. "Oh, hi Daddy." Amadi said to Kovu as he approached them.

Kovu smiled slightly. "Hi guys. Watching the hunt?" He asked curiously. "Good turn out?"

Amadi shrugged. "They only just started." His head quirked to the side slightly and his ears drooped when he looked into his fathers eyes. "Is there something wrong, Daddy?"

Kovu said nothing, showed no gesture to confirm this or not. At least not for a while. "I think you need to come back to Pride Rock." He said softly and gently. "Your Nanna would like to see you."

Ayo looked at Amadi; he had a feeling he knew what was going on. Sarabi was dying, and she wished to talk to Amadi before leaving him. Amadi knew that something was wrong, but he did not consider death. His Nana couldn't die, she was immortal to him. "Alright, I'll catch you later, Ayo." He said, standing up, and quickly walking back to Pride Rock with his father.

…

Sarabi was laying down at the back of the cave, away from the blinding light of the Pride Lands, laying comfortably on some soft grasses and leaves that Rifiki had brought for her. Amadi realized that something was wrong when he saw Rifiki in the cave. He only ever came down from that tree to talk to Simba or tend to the sick or wounded.

Rifiki walked past Kovu and Amadi, smiling sadly as he did. Simba was laying by his mother, his face caked in sadness as he rest his head upon her back. Sarabi could not lift her head when Amadi approached her, all she did was smile.

"Nana, what's wrong?" Amadi asked in a gentle tone, walking up and nuzzling against her forehead softly.

She was quiet at first, but then smiled softly and said. "I'm dying, Amadi." She looked into the eyes of the horrified Amadi. "Sweet heart, it's alright. It's my time. I am very old. I need to rest."

"That's all you've been doing since I was born!" He said, shouting from grief. "Should you be rested enough?"

Simba looked away from Amadi, closing his eyes, nuzzling his mother's fur. Sarabi sighed slightly, but smiled regardless. "It's my time, Amadi. I've been around for a while, and I am very fortunate to have witnessed your birth, and witness you growing. I use to worry about you a lot. I was afraid that people would make mistakes, and you would go astray. But you are beautiful, Amadi. Your such a wonderful lion and I don't worry about you anymore."

"You can't leave me! You're the only grown up here who understands me!" He said, his eye brows arched sadly, ears running down his face. "Please don't leave."

"Others need to see what you are, and they will. And they will accept you for this. I have faith." She said with a smile, lifting her head weakly to lick him on the cheek. "Just don't loose yourself along the way, my Amadi. I love you, stay strong, and keep caring."

"I love you too, Nana." He sobbed, nuzzling her gently, laying in front of her so she could rest her head. He looked at Simba, who had tears running down his face; Amadi guessed they had already said their good byes. Closing his eyes, Amadi lay there, trying his best not to sob or disturb Sarabi as she drifted into her final slumber.

…

Later that day, Kovu and Kiara went out in search of their son. After the cremation ceremony for Sarabi, Amadi had slinked off somewhere to be on his own; to cry and morn. Kiara was sad for the loss of her Grand Mother, but she had never been that close to Sarabi; not as close as Simba or Amadi.

"He's such a gentle soul, I just hope he is ok. You know how he can get when he lets himself get too sad." Kiara said, her head held high so she could see over the tall grass.

"I'm sure he's fine. He likes to be alone when he's upset. It's easier for him to get over things when he's alone, for some reason." Kovu said, sighing slightly. The whole pride was in morning, and this search for Amadi was just adding to the stress. Kovu would have just let Amadi be alone for a while; it was unlikely he would get into any danger. But he searched to ease Kiara's heart.

"Maybe we should ask Ayo. Amadi always seems to be around him." Kiara suggested.

Kovu nodded slightly. "We could do that." He agreed, before turning back to Pride Rock. He began to think as he walked home, the mention of Ayo had drifted his thoughts away from Sarabi's death. "Do you think it's a little weird that Amadi spends so much time with Ayo?"

Kiara gave him a look. "No, why would it be?" Looking at him curiously, Kiara wondered why Amadi having a friend would be weird.

"Well, I mean, male cubs should have male friends to buddy around with. But all they do is walk and talk. He wont spend much time with his brother, and apart from Ayo, and he doesn't seem to express any interest in being around the girls. He plays with the girls, but he doesn't show any interest in them…at all. All he cares and talks about is Ayo."

Kiara gave him a look. "He's just a cub, he should care about girls yet!" She exclaimed, turning into the protective mother.

"Kiara, when I was younger than him I met you, and even at that age I was interested in girls." Kovu said. He really didn't know what Amadi's problem was. "Simba and Nala were cub friends, and now they are married. The only real cub friend Amadi has is Ayo. You know, as king, he's going to need a Queen. How can he possibly know which of the cubs is going to be 'the one' when he doesn't spend time with them."

Kiara chuckled. "You lions are always too worried about masculine things. Amadi has always been a slow grower; it wasn't until last week that even a hint of a mane started to poke through. I'm sure he'll show interest in the girls eventually."

Kovu nodded, reassured by Kiara's words. It was worrying to him, Amadi had always been different, and ever since Simba mentioned something to him a month or so ago, Kovu has noticed it more and more. But for now, he would put it behind him; perhaps he was just thinking too into it. "I suppose your right. Alright, let's go find Ayo."

…

Kovu and Kiara had found Ayo grooming himself on the ledge that Sarabi use to rest on. It worried them that their son had not gone to him for comfort. Of all people, now that Sarabi was gone, Kiara was sure that Amadi would have gone to find Kyo. Ayo was slightly concerned about Amadi, but he was sure he could find him. Walking through the tall grass, Ayo went to the watering hole; the place that he and Amadi had played for the first time.

He was right, of course, he found Amadi lying upon a rock that had elevated him about 11 feet over the water. "I knew I would find you here." Ayo said with a chuckle, flipping a bit of redish mane out of his face as he approached Amadi. "Feeding the ducks again?"

Amadi did not giggle at the comment like he usually would, he just let his paws and head hang off the ledge; his tears slowly dripping into the water below. Ayo sighed slightly, his ears drooping in sadness. "I'm sorry Amadi…I don't know what to--"

He was cut off when Amadi stood up, turned around, and buried his head into the tuft of mane growing on Ayo's chest. The cub then began to sob uncontrollably, his paws up, resting on the others chest as he cried.

Ayo sat there for a moment, glancing left then right as the smaller Amadi sobbed onto him. Eventually, he lifted one of his paws up and wrapped it around the troubled cub. "Shh….It's ok. I'm here for you, buddy…" He murmured, nuzzling up against the top of the other's head.

Amadi sat there for a while, just crying. But eventually he calmed down, and his tears stopped. Pulling away from Ayo he smiled shyly up at him. "Sorry…I…I usually don't cry like that."

"Don't worry about it. Everyone needs a shoulder to cry on every now and then." He said with a smile, beginning to lick the tears off the others face like Ayo's mother use to do to him when he got upset.

Amadi didn't mind the attention, he actually started to laugh and playfully swatted Ayo away. "Quit it, your not my mom." He said with a smirk.

"I wouldn't have to be if you didn't run off from your own." Ayo teased before standing up. "Lets head back to Pride Rock. It's getting dark."

Standing, Amadi stood, sniffling a bit. Walking slightly behind Ayo, Amadi began to think. Ayo was all he had now that his Nana was dead. But he held comfort in that; Ayo offered him a happiness that no one else could, not even his own family. Once they got back to Pride Rock he stayed close to Ayo.

Dumaka and Dalia watched with awkward curiosity as Amadi chose to sleep next to Ayo instead of them. "They're weird." Dumaka said, rolling his eyes as he curled up with his sister. Even Dalia was beginning to question her brother in her thoughts. His behavior was unlike any lion king that the Pride Lands had ever seen.


	5. authors note

http : // albinoraven 6 6 6 .deviantart. com / alright! Take away the spaces! Wooooo!

See Amadi, Dalia and Dumaka!


	6. Family Struggles

It had been a month since the death of Sarabi and slowly things were going back to normal. Simba had accepted his mothers death, but the emotional baggage aged him greatly. Simba began to wonder how much longer he would be around, and if Kovu would be able to pick things up after he was gone. But he had faith. Kovu had shown nothing but greatness as a ruler during their training sessions. He would make a fair king. Now that Simba thought about it, it was Amadi who worried him. The cub grew with the rest of the cubs, but as Dumaka was showing the maturity of your typical lion, Amadi was not. Amadi hardly had a mane, while the other males, Ayo and Dumaka's were growing at a rapid pace. Amadi's slender body was that of Scar, and Simba remember how weak Scar was in comparison to Mofassa and himself. Not to mention, when the cubs wrestled in front of the pride, Amadi rarely joined in, and if he did he always lost against his brother.

Kovu had been putting Amadi through rigorous training; trying to build his body and his emotional strength. Though some muscle formed, he kept his lioness style figure. As for the brutality factor, Kovu knew that Amadi only agreed to wrestle so his brother wouldn't tease him; he still showed no real interest. Another interesting thing that Kovu and Simba had noticed more and more was Amadi's total lack of interest to the lionesses of the pride. Amadi would be considered adolescent soon, the time at which most lions started to flirt and court the lionesses. Even now, Dumaka was expressing interest in the lionesses from the pride that came to live with them. Dalia was also a little flirt when it came to Ayo, and expressed great jealousy when all Ayo wanted to do was be around Amadi.

Amadi was unhappy with his sisters interest in Ayo. She would always tag along with them, making it so Amadi did not feel comfortable about talking about himself. Amadi talked to Ayo about everything, but couldn't when Dalia was around. He made lots of excuses why he didn't want Dalia being there, but realistically he was jealous. He couldn't stand the way Dalia looked at him, the way she flirted with him; he wanted to just attack her sometimes.

Realistically, Amadi didn't have anything to worry about. Ayo expressed no interest in Dalia; she was too extreme for his taste. Ayo was happy being around Amadi; he enjoyed their walks and talks. He also enjoyed how tender Amadi was in comparison to Dumaka.

As far as Dumaka was concerned, Amadi and Ayo were weird. He wasn't very fond of Ayo at all. As if his brother wasn't weird enough, now he was hanging around some rival male all the time. Realistically, Dumaka considered Ayo a threat; and that's how male lions should think. And yet, Amadi didn't feel that. How could his brother not be bothered by this other male who was destined to be king in a neighboring kingdom? They were weird, as far as Dumaka was concerned.

"He spends all his time with that guy, I just don't get it!" Dumaka ranted to Kovu as they were out for a walk. "I mean, I understand he's Amadi's friend, but what about Dali and I? We're his siblings and he never hangs out with us. And you know the female cub, Ada, the one who came with the other new lionesses? She really likes Amadi, for some strange reason, and he could care less!"

Kovu looked at his son and smiled. "Ada likes Amadi?" This was showing some hope. None of the other cubs had ever expressed an interest in his strange, awkward Amadi.

"Yea, but it doesn't matter." Dumaka said, rolling his eyes as he hopped over a fallen log. "Amadi doesn't care. He's too busy being around Ayo. Seriously dad, it's like their in love or something. It's really starting to freak me out."

Kovu looked at his son again, his eyes very serious now. "I am sure he will come to like one of the girls. Just give him some time."

"Everyone says that about him. But dad, he's such a freak! Really, how can you expect a lion who isn't interested in the lionesses, who's never won a wrestling match, and who befriends field mice to be King?" Dumaka demanded.

"No hold it right there, Du." Kovu scolded, his eye brows narrowed slightly. "Amadi is not a freak. Being different does not make him a freak. Yes, he is gentle, and he hasn't found a girlfriend yet, but none of that matters right now. He has so much more time to learn, he will be a great king; just give it some time."

"Just keep telling yourself that, dad." Dumaka said, rolling his eyes as he ran off from his father. He wandered down the river, past the place were Amadi was nearly dropped into a river of crocodiles, down to where it opened up a bit wider and became calmer. That's where he saw Amadi and Ayo laying in the grass.

His eyes brows rose as he kept his distance, seeing Amadi snuggled right up to Ayo like a love-struck lioness. Dumaka's eye brows furrowed slightly; what was wrong with that cub. Deciding to spy for a big, Dumaka lay in the tall grass, downwind from the resting lions.

"Hey, Ayo?" Amadi said, rolling onto his back so his stomach was exposed to Ayo; his eyes looking up at the sky. "Do you think I'll make a good king? I mean, seriously. You always say yes because you're my friend. But do you really think I will make a good king?"

Ayo smiled and rest one paw over the stomach of Amadi, looking down at him. "Yes I do." He said honeslty, looking up at the sky with him. "You need to work on your fighting skill a bit, but your smarter and wiser than any other lion or lioness I have met; even adult ones. And I think with your kind heart, that you will be a fair leader."

Amadi smiled and looked at Ayo. "Then I am sure that I will be a good king." He said, looking up at his friend. "Because you say I will."

Ayo looked down at Amadi, quirking a brow slightly. Amadi was giving him a very caring and strange look. "Because I say?"

"Well….If you say so it must be true." He said, dodging the others glance slightly; if he had fur he would have blushed. "When other people say that to me, even my own father, I know that they don't really believe I will be a good king. But I have no reason not to trust you, you are my best friend. So if you say that I will be a good king, then I will be a good king."

Dumaka rolled his eyes slightly, but was unable to look away, even when his brother leaned up and licked the others cheek and muzzle in a way that Dumaka had only seen displayed by Simba and Nala, or his Mother and Father; a display of love. Dumaka could not understand this, it shocked him even more when Ayo returned the gesture. He had never heard of this before. Weren't lions suppose to like lionesses, not other lions. He stood up, and slowly began to back away; he could not trust his eyes anymore. He ran off.

Ayo's ears picked up at the sound of running paws, and just as Dumaka disappeared into the distance he saw the glimpse of the lion. "Uh oh." Ayo murmured. "Amadi, I think Du was here."

Amadi rolled onto his stomach and stood up, looking around. Hopping up onto a low hung branch, he saw his brother running off. "Crap." He mumbled, hopping down from the branch. Dumaka was sure to tell Kovu, or Simba, and Amadi didn't really know how to explain this. He knew his affection for Ayo was not natural, but it felt so right. But he knew that no one else would understand that.

…

Kovu looked at Dumaka with unbelieving eyes. He could not, would not, believe what he was saying. Ayo was Amadi's friend, there was no way that two lions could be any more than that. "I'm tired of this, Du." Kovu muttered, starting to walk away.

"What, you think I'm making this up?" The son demanded, running after his father. The look on Kovu's face told him that Kovu didn't believe him. "I saw what I saw. I know it was wrong to spy on them, but that's what I saw!"

Shaking his head, Kovu looked at his son. "Enough." He said very firmly. Why was Dumaka so determined to talk so badly about his brother? "I don't know if all of this comes from some hidden jealousy, but this need's to stop."

"I am not jealous of that freak!" Dumaka yelled, baring his teeth at his father. "I just don't want to see this kingdom go up in flames! That lion loving, mouse helping, pansy fighting freak is going to be an end to us!"

"Enough!" Kovu shouted, the fur on his shoulder bristling slightly. "Amadi is not a freak, he is your brother! And your future king! You will learn to respect him or you will leave!"

Dumaka stared at his father, almost glaring as he took a few steps back. "Then I'll leave." He muttered, shaking his head. "Follow him one day, father. Follow him and Ayo, and you will see." And with that, Dumaka turned his back on his father and ran off.

Kovu sighed, he didn't actually want his son to leave. "Dumaka….Dumaka come back!" He yelled after his son, but he was already gone. Kovu was sure he would be back; even though he was strong, he was too young to survive on his own.

Walking back to Pride Rock, Kovu remained deep in thought. He decided that he would talk to Simba about this; maybe he had an answer. When he arrived at Pride Rock, he saw Amadi sitting at the peek of the rock alone. Ayo wasn't around, so in Kovu's mind that confirmed his thoughts that Dumaka was making it up. Ayo was sleeping in the den of Pride Rock. Everything was fine, Kovu told himself. Everything would be ok.

…

It was sundown when Kiara went to find Kovu. She was worried about Dumaka; she had not seen him all day. In fact, no one had except Kovu; but since the fight he had not seen his son. He figured that Dumaka just needed to cool off, but when Kiara confronted him about his absence, Kovu grew worried.

"Kovu, have you seen Dumaka?" Kiara asked, walking up to her mate, concern written all over her face. "No one has seen him all day."

Kovu let out a sigh and confessed. "Dumaka and I had an argument about Amadi. He said some rather unfriendly things about his brother, so I told him he needed to learn to respect his brother or leave. He said he chose to leave…I didn't think he was serious." He said, stuttering slightly, very concerned. "I thought he just needed some time to himself."

"Kovu!" Kiara exclaimed, her ears going back. "He's just a cub, he can't survive on his own! He hardly knows how to hunt! We have to find him!"

"Calm down, I'm sure he's fine." Kovu hoped, looking over the Pride Lands.

"How can you say that when our son is out on his own in the dark!" She shouted, shaking her head. "Were going to find him! We have too!"

And with that, Kiara sprung into the cave to wake everyone. News of the cubs absence sparked a huge search party; every lion, cub, or lioness was on the search for Dumaka; splitting up into pairs to cover more space. Kovu went with Kiara, and explained the argument he had with Dumaka; telling her every detail about the fight, about what Dumaka had claimed.

This worried Kiara, what she thought to be playful cub nonsense might actually be a problem. Could her son really be in love with another lion? Was that even possible? But that didn't matter right now, she needed to find her son. But hours would pass, the sun would begin to rise, and yet there was still no sign of Dumaka.

Everyone rallied back at Pride Rock, Kiara was crying and Nala did her best to comfort her. Everyone reassured her that Dumaka would be fine, that he would come home unharmed. But as even more hours past, the pride began to have their doubts.

Kovu felt aweful. At this point, Kovu hoped that Dumaka had run away; the other options were horrible to think about. He could be lost, and eventually die from starvation or exhaustion, or what about the night time predators. He could have been picked off by a Jackal. Kovu shivered just thinking about it.

All of this made him very angry at Amadi, even though he knew that it wasn't his son's fault; it was his fault for not believing him. But that was just the start of the problem, now he had to deal with Amadi's strange attraction to Ayo. He believed Dumaka now, out of fear and anger. He asked Amadi to follow him away from the pride so he could talk.

"Before Dumaka ran off he told me something, something that I didn't believe." He muttered, looking at Amadi. "He told me that he saw you and Ayo acting a bit too friendly with one another."

Amadi's eyes widened, and he opened his mouth to talk, but couldn't think of anything to say. He sat down, his tail curling around him. "So it's true?" Kovu asked, his eye brows narrowed slightly.

Amadi nodded silently. He really did not know what to say at this point. He knew that his attraction to Ayo was unnatural as far as lions were concerned, but he couldn't help how he felt.

Glaring at his son Kovu shook his head. "I didn't believe him! I told him to stop lying or leave! But he wasn't lying… I refused to believe this nonsense, but it's true!" Kovu turned away from Amadi. "What is wrong with you?! Why can't you be… "

He stopped when he saw Amadi's face. Amadi was practically in tears, his ears back. But Amadi wasn't sad, he was angry. "I can't help what I am!" He shouted, his jaw trembling as he began to cry. "I don't know why I'm this way! I don't have a mane, I don't like to fight, and I really care for Ayo! And I don't know why! I am what I am!"

Kovu shook his head. "No, your going to stop this." Kovu said firmly, "Your going to stop this now. Your going to undergo much more training. And I don't want you hanging around Ayo anymore."

Amadi's eyes widened. "He is my only friend!" He shouted, his eyes angry and upset. "Your taking away my only connection to the lion world. What, would you rather me make friends with field mice like before?! Would you rather me follow my siblings around while they ridicule me! If you take Ayo from me I'll be alone. No one else cares!"

Kovu shook his head. "Were not discussing this anymore. Go back to the den, and sleep by your siblings." And with that firm dismissal, Kovu walked away from Amadi; leaving him to his tears.

Amadi wasn't like Dumaka, he wasn't strong or bold enough to run away. He sulked back to the den, right past Ayo, and found a place to sleep. It wasn't by Ayo, it wasn't by his siblings, it was behind a rock, away from everyone else. He felt so rejected, like a piece of rotten meat not fit to eat. He didn't know what to do, he didn't know how he was going to live. He needed Ayo…. He felt so alone.


	7. Death of a Gentle Heart

A few months had gone by and Kovu had kept Amadi pretty busy; taking him to many training sessions during the day, then making sure he was in the den by the time the sun had set. Before Kovu caught on, Amadi use to sneak off with Ayo before the sun would rise. But the moment Kovu found out he started to wake Amadi up earlier so he could keep an eye on him. Amadi's mane had not grown an inch, but slowly muscle developed, along with a very cold personality, as Kovu pushed him harder and harder. Kiara, under any normal circumstance, would have told Kovu to relax a bit. But truth be told, Amadi's strange attraction to Ayo had greatly concerned her. And ever since the disappearance of Dumaka, and as whispers traveled about the fight between he and Kovu, the whole pride viewed Amadi differently.

Dumaka had never been found. The last person to see him was Kovu, and that was the night of the argument. Kovu felt a great amount of guilt and sadness to his son's disappearance. He didn't even have the comfort in knowing what happened to Dumaka; remains of any sort were never found.

As for Amadi, he assumed that this was his entire fault, and no one told him otherwise. He felt alone and hated for who he was. Unable to seek out the comfort of Ayo, the King To Be had grown very reserved, and cold. With the exception of his training sessions, he didn't talk to anyone; not even his own mother could get a word out of him. Dalia hated him, as did all the other cubs. They blamed Amadi for Dumaka's disappearance, leaving him alone and companionless. Even Ayo would go off with the other cubs, but Amadi could not blame him. He couldn't expect Ayo to isolate himself as he did. In fact, Amadi was happy that no one blamed Ayo; he didn't want Ayo to feel as lonely as he did.

With the exception of the obvious drama, the pride was functionally normally. All the cubs were growing quickly, reaching adolescence. Simba and Nala were growing older, and this was obvious. Simba had slowed down quite a bit, so much to the point where he had Kovu pick up some kingly duties so that Simba could rest. Whenever a serious problem appeared, Simba would, of course, play his part. It's just that Kovu needed experience as a king, and this was the perfect opportunity.

Dalia had finally reached the age where she could hunt, and absolutely loved it. Now that Nala had slown down, Dalia was defiantly a top huntress. She was strong, quick, and growing into a very beautiful lioness. Even Ayo had started to notice this, which he didn't when he was around Amadi. For Ayo, he assumed and was told that his fling with Amadi was just a phase, and that was becoming more and more apparent. Dalia was happy to receive this attention from Ayo; she had fancied him for a very long time.

Luckily for them, Amadi had not yet noticed Ayo's affection towards his sister. Dalia would occasionally make passes to Ayo in front of Amadi, but Ayo would promptly move away, or refuse to even talk to her when she tried. Though he was loosing his feelings for Amadi, he didn't want to hurt him. He was happy Amadi hadn't noticed yet; it was better that way.

One day, walking alone through the tall grass, Amadi stumbled upon the river. He usually stayed away from the river; that event when he was a cub had really scared him. Whenever he went to the river, he was carful to stay a good 20 feet away from the water. Today was different though, today he didn't care. He walked along the edge of the river, lost in his unhappiness, secretly praying for one of the crocodiles to pop out of the raging water and drown him the way that they drowned those zebras.

But no such luck, the river was calm; gently flowing over rocks and the glistening backs of the lazy reptiles. 'I should have died that day.' Amadi thought to himself as he began to lap up some water from the river. 'died with those poor zebra. It would have been easier that way.'

Sighing, he lay down, looking at his reflection, his eyes studying the tiny tuft of black mane he had on his head and around his ears. What was wrong with him? Why was he like this? Glaring at the water he struck the reflection with claws bared. Standing angrily, he growled and kept walking down the river, watching his thin reflection as the water followed his feet.

As he walked he found himself falling deeper and deeper into thought and depression. Just when it seemed he was completely drowned by his thoughts he heard laughter. His ears perked up, his eyes flinching in the direction of the sound, his thoughts turned into curiosity. It was probably just the others playing, but as he grew closer he only heard two voices. Male and female. That was strange.

The nearer he grew to the voices and laughter, he could pick out his sisters loud, but beautiful voice. As he recognized the male voice his ears flattened, and he lowered himself into the tall grass. Peeking through the tall grass, his eyes caught the figures of Ayo and Dalia. Spying was bad, he knew this from the experience with Dumaka.

Ears back out of anger, claws extended, he watched the two; pouncing and cuddling like he and Ayo use to. A low, menacing growl escaped his throat as he watched his sister run her pink tongue over his face and mane. How could Ayo do this to him? That stupid lion was prancing about with Dalia like a love-struck cub! No, this couldn't be Ayo's fault… That huntress must have manipulated him, ensnared him with her manipulating smart words. He wouldn't allow this.

Rage took over after that point, he exploded out of the grass, charging at Dalia; mouth agape in a loud roar. He didn't acknowledged the surprised faces of the two as he barreled towards Dalia. Months of being a passivism, countless conversations about how he wasn't brutal enough to be a lion were all being contradicted.

Dalia had been taken by surprise, she had no time to react; Amadi pounced her with every ounce of strength in her body, clawed paws beating at her body. It took a moment for Dalia to really know what was going on, but when she did, the powerful huntress threw Amadi off of her.

"What on earth are you doing?!" She demanded, her body trembling from the pain; cuts bleeding from her shoulders and neck.

But Amadi didn't acknowledge her words, he charged again. This time Dalia faught back; both lions were up on their back legs, slashing at each other. Dalia's intent was defense, but Amadi was there to kill. Every ounce of jealousy and anger was coming out in each strike. Dalia was screaming for him to stop, but she was growing weaker. Even though Amadi was structurally different than the other lions, he was a lion none the less; and whatever testosterone he had was mixing with anger and adrenalin.

Ayo had been circling the two, yelling at Amadi to stop, trying to get him off of her. It wasn't until Amadi had struck Dalia hard to the ground that Ayo was able to intervene. Amadi's paw struck the lionesses head hard, sending her crashing to the ground. When he went to pounce on her, Ayo jumped at him; body checking him a few feet away.

"What the hell are you playing at?!" Ayo demanded, standing over Dalia just in case Amadi were to retaliate.

Awkwardly, Amadi got to his feet; a little dizzy from being slammed away by such a force. His eyes found Ayo's, and then he looked at Dalia. In his dizziness, he momentarily forgot why he had attacked his sister. But before he made it to apologizing, the image of Dalia rubbing her body up against Ayo popped back into his mind.

"Me? What are YOU playing at?!" Amadi demanded, teeth bared as he glared at Ayo. "What are you doing with her? She's my sister? Of all lionesses, my sister! What about me? What happened to me?"

"We were young, Amadi! Young and going through a stupid phase. It wasn't natural, and you know that! It was just a small thing; we knew no one else." Ayo shouted, his muscles tense… just in case. "But now I know someone else. I know Dalia, and I really like her. I've allowed myself to outgrow this, and so should you!"

Amadi couldn't believe his ears, his eyes widened for a moment and then grew sad. He was alone… Even though he was strange he had always lived in the comfort that there was at least one other lion like him. But he was alone. "I'll never outgrow this…" He murmured.

Slowly, Dalia got to her feet. Her body trembled from the pain; her fur was coated in blood. Sad, and confused eyes met Amadi. As their eyes connected, Dalia saw nothing but resentment in Amadi's eyes. She never really comprehended Amadi's and Ayo's relationship. She never thought it was like that, even after everyone told her it was. "I am so sorry, Amadi."

Amadi was shocked to hear this, he expected her to be mad considering the state he had put her in. But despite the chance to make things right, he couldn't forgive her. His ears went back and he shook his head. "Your dead to me…."

And with that, without looking at Ayo, Amadi turned away, and continued his walk down the river. He would not look back at them, he would not show concern… He never looked back.

…

When the pack saw Dalia there was immediate shock. Kiara, who had already lost one cub, pretty much broke down as she began to lick her daughter's wounds. Kovu approached, eyes wide with concern and shock.

"What happened?" Kovu demanded as he looked at Ayo.

Ayo looked at Dalia and then back at Kovu. Ayo knew that Kovu did not like him very much ever since the secret came out about him and Amadi. How was he going to explain this. "Uh…She was attacked…Am--"

"There were Hyenas…" Dalia interrupted, wincing as she lay down on the den floor. "I was by border, um, the river one… I was just taking a walk. Then hyena's came. They must have come from the outlands. They attacked me…Uh, if it weren't for Ayo I probably would have died."

Kovu looked at his daughter and then at Ayo. His face softened slightly as his eyes met Ayo's. "Thank you, Ayo. I am in your debt." He said, bowing his head slightly.

Simba looked at Dalia and Ayo suspiciously. Kovu didn't know much about hyenas, but Simba knew that the hyena's left the land after the fall of Scar. It was possible, he thought, that they returned, but he figured that the cubs were hiding something. But Simba wouldn't start questioning in such a state of panic. "Well, Kovu, if there are hyena's about were going to need to patrol the land and chase them off. I will not allow them in the Pride Lands."

Kovu nodded, understanding completely. The Hyena's played a huge role in the rein of Scar, and it was quite possible that it was their fault that Scar grew so corrupt. Unlike the outlanders, who were given a second chance, Kovu knew that Simba would never forgive the hyenas.

After making sure that Dalia was stable and comfortable, Kovu and Simba went to find these made-up hyenas. Ayo and the lionesses tended to Dalia, and after they were all sure that she was ok, Ayo was left alone with her.

Looking at her seriously, he lay before her. "Why did you tell them that. That's not what happened."

Dalia smiled at him and sighed. "Amadi is my brother…And I understand why he did it. It makes me sad that it came to this, and of course I am angry and shocked that he hurt me. But he is my brother… If anyone knew what actually happened he would get in so much trouble." Sighing, she rest her head upon Ayo's paws. "Amadi is already unpopular, this would make it much worse. It would break Mothers heart, and Daddy might even chase him off. I can't do that to him, not when this was all my fault."

"Don't say that." Ayo said firmly, licking her face lovingly. "He chose to act that way."

She shook his head and began to cry. "It's my fault. I stole the only person he had away from him. We all did… This is the least I can do to try to get things back together." Crying turned into sobbing, and she hid her face in his mane. "He's my brother, and I don't even know him! We all thought he was so weird, we distanced ourselves! Amadi's attack is the product of what we did to him. It's our fault! I deserve this! Maybe this will make up for it, maybe I can have my brother back…I miss my brother, Ayo. I really do."

Ayo didn't know what to do. He didn't blame Dalia at all for what happened. If anything, all of this came from Dumaka, but all of Dalia's dramatic ranting made sense in some way. Amadi was weird from day one, but he was such a nice, loving little cub. It was because of the pride that he changed. It was because of their ignorance to his condition. Ayo began to feel a huge sense of guilt. He toyed with Amadi's emotions, even if it wasn't intentional.

Sighing, Ayo rest his head over Dalia's nuzzling her gently. "It will be ok… " he tried his best to believe his words, but dread filled his heart. Luckily, he wouldn't have to stay around to live it. He would have to leave in a month or two, he was reaching adult hood and he would have to leave. His pride would come with him and he would rule his own land. Maybe he would ask Dalia to come with him, for he loved her very much and he wanted the best for her. And that wasn't going to happen around Amadi.

…

Amadi returned to the rock, but refused to sleep in the den with the others. He was happier on the peek of Pride Rock; away from his sister and Ayo. He wondered how much trouble he was going to be in, another reason he avoided the den; if Kovu and Simba were in there he was as good as dead. But his ears picked up to the sound of paws over rock, and he turned to see his father and grand father climbing Pride Rock.

"Where have you been all day?" Kovu asked, his tone much more gentle than Amadi expected after what he did to Dalia. "I've been worried sick."

"What are you talking about?" Amadi asked, quirking a brow as he wondered what was going on.

"Dalia was attacked by hyena's today." Simba said, looking upon Amadi with suspicious eyes. "We've been out looking for them all day. We were worried they had got to you to. After all, what better revenge to take on The Pride than killing a future king."

"But your ok, and that's good." Kovu said, licking his sons face; something he hadn't done in months. But he had been truly worried. "Did you see any about?"

"No, dad… I haven't seen a hyena in my life." Amadi said calmly, looking at them both very curiously. He was feeling a bit guilty now… He had done something horrible to Dalia, and yet she covered for him. He realized he hadn't said anything for a while, and that the two lions were looking at him expectedly. "Is she ok?"

Kovu nodded and sighed. "She'll be fine, just a bit shaken up. Rifiki came by to clean the wounds, he said she would feel sore for a while, but that's it."

"Um…Alright." He said softly, looking away from them at the horizon. "I'm sleeping outside tonight…"

Kovu nodded; he was oblivious still. For Amadi to say that he wanted to sleep outside wasn't unusual; he was a strange cub over all, but he never suspected that Amadi was in fact the hyena that attacked Dalia. "That's fine, just don't wander off; its dangerous when hyena's are about. G'night."

"Night." Amadi mumbled, resting his head on his paws. He heard his father walk away, but knew that Simba was still standing there. Did he suspect something? Simba was very smart, after all. Amadi dared not to turn around, and after a few moments, he heard Simba walk away.

Close call, he thought to himself, as he looked back at the den. Slowly, his head turned to the stars. What was wrong with him? The Amadi that existed a few months ago would have never dreamed to attack someone, not even if he was angry. Where was the mouse loving, passive Amadi that he use to be? His eyes watered as he watched the stars.

"Why did you do this to me?" He asked the stars, tears running down his face. "Why am I so different? Why do I like Ayo? Why did you make me this way?!" he shouted the last sentence, baring his teeth at the stars. "Your cruel….Everyone here is, but I expected better from the great kings."

And with that finally word, he lay his head down, closed his eyes and slipped into a sleep of terror and sadness.

…

The next few weeks were difficult on Amadi. He was forced to go through more training, and when he wasn't out with his father or Simba, he had to deal with Dalia's condition. He wouldn't talk to her, and he wouldn't even look at Ayo. But her wounds, and her healing was a constant reminder of what he did to her. He was feeling more guilt than resentment now. He felt like if he had to see her one more time he would break down and confess himself in front of the whole pride.

Dalia had tried to talk to her brother, but he was ignoring her. It was times like these that she really missed Dumaka. Despite the fact that he was usually a huge jerk, Dumaka was always there for her. She wondered, now more than ever before, whether he was alive. And if he was, where was he and why hadn't he come home?

Dumaka was alive, alive and living with a new pride. After the argument with his father, Dumaka ran away from the Pride Lands. After traveling the desert, he became really weak. When he ran off, he was too young to hunt. With the exception of the occasional lizard, he went days without a meal. On the brink of death, he found a pride of lions.

Usually, the male would not tolerate another male cub in the pride, unless it was his own. But the queen, who had a generous and loving soul, convinced the king to take in the cub and he had been there ever since. He was afraid to go home. Afraid that things had changed, afraid that his family hated him, and afraid that he would not be able to make that journey again.

But as he grew, he grew in strength. He knew that he would return to The Pride Lands soon, when he knew that he could hunt and make the journey. But he would not stay there. His new pride went through a lot of misfortune. The prince of the pride had been killed by jackals, and the pride turned to Dumaka, the only other male in the pride, to rule. That, and the little princess of the pride had grown attached to him, and he to her. It was decided that he would rule as her king, and she as his queen. He was happy, but the memory of his family loomed in the back of his head at all times. He knew he would have to return someday, to visit and ease his mothers worrying heart.

He wondered about the changes that might have become his family now, they did not scare him. And as his mind matured, he knew that his family would not hate him; if anything they were worried sick. He thought often of Amadi, curious as to how he might have grown, and if he had changed at all. He did not suspect in the least what Amadi did to Dalia; violence was not in his brothers nature. He was sure that he would return home, his wife at his side, to a normal, happy Pride Lands.


	8. Taj

It had been a while since Amadi's jealous attack on Dalia, and as she healed Amadi found himself diving deeper and deeper in a lake of depression, Ayo had betrayed him, and with his own sister of all lions, Dalia kept attempting to talk to him, which made him feel nothing but guilt and anger, and though his father had lightened up a bit with the training he found himself unable to enjoy the things he use to. A simple walk through the grass, which use to thrill him, was nothing more than a torturous walk down a lonely road. The watering hole filled with refreshing water was nothing but a toxic place that held painful memories.

It was times like this that Amadi really missed Sarabi. Whenever things went wrong, his Nana was always there for him. She was the only person he believed, even now, would have never betrayed him. But she was gone, so he was alone. Kiara and Kovu worried about their son. The once playful, chipper cub had grown very quiet and reserved. Kiara would try to talk to him, but he would answer with one-word sentences and then leave. Kovu blamed himself for Amadi's change, which it partially was. And as he tried to make amends it only made things worse.

Since Dalia was now loving Ayo, Kovu told Amadi that he was allowed to be with his old friend. Amadi only got angry with this, thinking his father was rubbing the fact that Ayo had left him in his face. Even Simba tried to reach out to the future king, and although Amadi was much more polite to him than anyone else, it was obvious that he was still holding back.

Holding back was the only thing Amadi could do. He felt that if he grew close to someone he would say something stupid, or bring up that he was the one who attacked Dalia. If he did that he would not only be opening up himself to possible hurt, he would also get into a world of trouble. He wished that Dalia had ratted him out, it would have been easier. He knew that if he came out about it now that he would get into even more trouble for hiding it for so long. He couldn't tell anyone about it… Not now.

Whenever Amadi wasn't in training he took long walks. As the days went by he would walk farther and father; eventually passing the boundaries of the pride lands; exploring unknown territories. Though this was very dangerous, and often was a very long walk back home, he found the unexplored land more fulfilling than the Pride Lands, which only accomplished smothering him.

One day, walking by himself, as usual, Amadi stumbled on a mini oasis a few miles out of the Pride Land boundaries. It was beautiful to him, which was unusual because he rarely found things beautiful anymore. There was luscious green grass, and beautiful trees surrounding the most pristine watering hole he had ever seen. Happy to rest, Amadi walked up to the water and slowly began to lap it up. It was cool, which was unusual and refreshing for an African watering hole. He figured it was because the trees offered so much shade. Laying down, he wished he had someone to share it with; someone to snuggle up against and talk about how beautiful it was to sit in the shade by the pool of blue.

Thoughts like this usually made him angry, but he was emotionally exhausted and the oasis, for the first time in a long time, offered him some peace. Yawning, he flopped on his side, the little tuft of mane his forehead had to over twitching in the wind. Closing his eyes, and letting out a much-needed sigh, Amadi fell asleep.

The sleep was not long lived, however, for Amadi was startled into waking by a growl, and the rustle of foliage. Jumping to his feet, his ears perked forward, he looked for whatever created the noise. Sniffing lightly at the air as he turned his head, he began to wonder if he had just had a bad dream. But right as he was about to lay back down, a large lion ran out of the bushes.

Unable to react in time, Amadi did the only thing he could do; he shrunk to the ground, ears back in a submissive manner. The lion looked confused and slowed to a ominous walk, still growling. As the larger male grew close, Amadi rolled onto his side, head low.

Strong and proud, the unknown male had a pale yellow fur tone, and a orange-red colored mane. Clawed paws, and armed jaws were a light brown color, and piercing blue eyes stared down at Amadi. It was obvious that the lion was confused about the way Amadi submitted himself as a lioness would before a male, but that didn't stop the aggressive stance.

"What are you doin' here?" The lion demanded in a deep tone, eyeing the startled Amadi.

"I…I was just taking a rest." Amadi said in a concerned tone. "Is this your territory? I-I'm sorry, I didn't pick up on the presence of a pride or anything. I didn't know."

"I'm a loner, but this is still my turf, and I don't like random lions strollin' on in here." He said, showing his teeth. Finally, he asked the question that had been bothering him since Amadi went down. "What the hell are you doin'?"

Amadi's eyes shifted slightly and he rolled onto his stomach, still keeping lower than the stranger. "W..What do you mean?"

"Why are you lying down like that? Don't you have any pride. I come chargin' in here thinking that some rouge lion is steppin' on my turf and I find a frightened lil' cub!" He said, laughing slightly as he looked down at Amadi.

"I am not a cub!" Amadi yelled, standing up now. It was true, he was around the same height of the other lion, only a few inches shorter. The only difference was his figure and his obvious lack of mane.

The lion chuckled again, and held his neck up high so that he towered over Amadi. "Then where's your mane, Mr. Lion?"

"My name is Amadi and I am not a cub!" He shouted again, before backing down slightly, feeling slightly embarrassed. "My mane just never really grew in…sorta. You know what, I'm sorry for trespassing, I'm going to get going."

The stranger sighed, feeling bad now that he had upset the lion. "Look, usually I wouldn't do this, but you can stay for a while if you want." The lion grumbled, feeling he had to make up for the torment he had given the young lion.

The lion walked a few feet away from Amadi then lay by the water, watching Amadi with slight curiosity. Amadi thought this behavior weird; he knew that usually lions would chase other males off their land. But truth be told this stranger was a loner, he didn't have a pride, and he never really had anyone to talk to; he didn't mind the company at all. Now that he figured that Amadi wasn't a threat, and realistically Amadi couldn't be a threat even if he wanted to be, he was happy to have him there.

The lion watched Amadi tensely watch him. "Well, make yourself at home, don't just stand there like a moron." The lion said with a chuckle.

Amadi nodded and resumed his laying position, never turning his back on the stranger. Bravely, Amadi spoke. "What's your name?" He asked in a quiet voice.

The lion smiled, flicking the long bit of mane he had out of his face. "I'm Taj." He said with a smile. "I left my pride when I became of age, I've been a longer ever since. I stumbled upon this place a month or two back, stayed here ever since."

Amadi smiled, slowly becoming a bit more comfortable. "Well, I can see why, it's lovely." He said, unable to stop himself before he realized how silly he must sound to such a masculine lion.

Taj chuckled slightly, shaking his head a bit at Amadi's sentence. "So, I told ya mine, what's your story? You a loner?"

Amadi was unsure what to say, but considering Taj was being friendly, and he actually had someone new to talk to, he figured he would give it to him straight. "Well, I'm from The Pride Lands. My father and mother are the future rulers." He said, watching Taj's reactions in case he said anything the other didn't like.

"Then what are you doin' way out here?" Taj asked, very curious about this prince cub.

"I'm different from the others, I guess, so they kinda treat me different. I just got so sick of it. I started to explore, going farther each day. I just don't like to be home if I don't have to be." Amadi tried to explain.

"Well aren't you the little emo-lion?" Taj teased, chuckling slightly.

"What?!" Amadi growled, his ears going back. "I open up to you and you call me emo?"

"Well, you are. You are different, that is obvious, but rather than embracing your differences you chose to mope and care too much about how others view you." He said with a shrug. "I'm sure they might not understand you, but you shouldn't let that get to you. No matter how much you try to be like them, you never will be. So you might as well get over it and accept who you are. You may find out that being different isn't such a bad thing."

Amadi was taken a back, his ears folded back, a pout on his face. No one had said it to him like that before, but it made a lot of sense; even if that wasn't what he wanted to hear. "I tried to be who I am once…And it only made things worse."

"Things will always get bad before they get better." Taj spoke with wisdom beyond his years, and Amadi found it slightly refreshing.

"But don't I weird you out? Don't I make you uncomfortable or crap like that?" Amadi asked. Most of the times his own pride felt uncomfortable around the strange Amadi; and that was before they found out about his sexuality.

"Kid, I'm not going to lie, you're the weirdest lion I've met so far, but honestly I could care less." He said with a chuckle, rolling onto his side. "I mean, look at me for example. I'm a normal lion, but I'm a looser. I live on my own, I don't have a pride, and I lazy about a water hole all day. Your weird, and your already off to a better start than I am. Your gonna be king some day, kid; no matter how weird you might be your already living life way better than I am."

Amadi smiled, and even managed a bit of a chuckle. "I guess… That is if they don't de-thrown me first." He said, actually taking the chance to laugh at himself.

"Man, you must be a huge freak if they are thinking about breaking all laws of tradition to dump you from your thrown." Taj said, joking of course, and laughing along with Amadi.

"Yeah, I guess so!" Amadi could have taken that with great offence, but all he could do was laugh.

And that's how Amadi spent his afternoon, in the oasis with Taj, the loner, looser lion; or so he called himself. They talked, laughed, even took a break to swim; which Amadi found really weird, at least, until Taj pushed him in. Amadi had to admit, this was the most amount of fun he had had in a very long time….

…

When Amadi returned home he returned with a sense of happiness. Taj had told him he could return any time he wanted to, which Amadi defiantly planned on doing. For the first time in months, Amadi hopped up onto Pride Rock with a skip in his step and a smile on his face.

Kiara was out on Pride Rock, and quirked a brow when she saw how happy Amadi looked. "Have a good day, Sweety?" Was all she could ask as she tried to recall the last time she saw that smile.

Amadi looked at his mother, locking eyes with her. He nodded. "Yeah, I did." He said honestly, still smiling. He wouldn't mention Taj, he knew he would get into trouble for wandering off of the Pride Lands, but he didn't let that worry him too much.

"What did you get up to?" She asked curiously, wondering what on earth could make her cub smile when one here was able to.

He shrugged. "I just went for a walk, a really nice long walk. Got to think about things; that's all." He said, walking up and nuzzling her. "Love ya mum." And with that he walked into the den, still smiling.

"I love you too." She said, her voice trailing off, a brow still quirked. It sounded like he meant it that time… What had gotten into that cub? She decided not to question it incase she were to jinx it.

Kiara wasn't the only one who noticed the difference; Simba, Nala and Kovu all walked out to talk to Kiara. "What is that all about?" Kovu asked.

"What?" Kiara asked, looking at all of them, sitting down. "You mean Amadi? I'm not sure. I saw him walk home, and he looked….Happy."

"That's strange." Simba said, not afraid to say it. They all looked at him strangly. "What, you all know it is true. Yes, its good that he seems happy again, but this morning he was his usual mopey self. I wonder what happened this afternoon."

Nala nodded slightly, thinking about it. "It is strange. I do not think I've seen him that happy in a while."

"Maybe I should talk to him?" Kovu suggested, looking back at the den.

Kiara shook her head. "No, he's happy, leave him be." She said to her mate. She knew that Kovu was one of the main reason's that Amadi was always so upset. Not that she loved Kovu any less, but she just wanted to give Amadi the chance to sort things out.

Kovu looked at her, quirking a brow. But he nodded silently, understanding why she suggested that.

Simba had his concerns, they started when Amadi was a cub and grew worse the day that Dalia came back wounded. He knew that the hyenas were long gone from the Pride Lands; they had not been seen since Scar's time. So what attacked Dalia? The way Dalia hesitantly answered that question had made Simba very suspicious. Why would she lie? Was she protecting someone? Was that someone Amadi? He wouldn't bring this up now, he had no proof, and he didn't want to spoil Kiara's excitement about Amadi's happiness.

After some more talk, and some idle chit-chat, they went into the den to rest up for the day to come.

…

During the weeks to come, Amadi went back to visit Taj every day after his training. And every day he would come home smiling. After his rejuvenating talks with the other lion, who he now considered his friends, nothing in the world seemed to be able to bring him down… All except Dalia. Now that he was happier, Amadi felt horribly guilty for what he did to his sister. What use to not bother him made him loose sleep. He decided he would talk to Taj about it, he seemed to have a lot of good advice.

"Well, I don't really know how to explain this." Amadi said, breaking eye contact with Taj as he dipped his front paws in the pool of blue water. "I…Don't like lionesses…" He paused, looking at Taj, then looking back at the water. "I had this friend named Ayo… Well, he was a bit more than a friend, to say the least. I know that's hard to understand, but I feel how I feel… Anyway, my father found out, and told me I couldn't see Ayo. He made every precaution to make sure I didn't see him…So time went by, Ayo grew out of it…I never did. Long story short, he ended up with my sister."

Amadi paused, looking at Taj. Taj looked a bit curious, but didn't seem to phased by it. "Ouch." He said with a slight smirk. "I don't care how weird this all sounds, that had to hurt."

Amadi smiled slightly, thankful that Taj was at least trying to understand. "Yeah, it did…I got really angry, and I guess I was really jealous, which was wrong." He hesitated slightly and looked away, hanging his head in shame. "Taj, I attacked my sister."

Taj's eyebrows rose in surprise; he really couldn't see Amadi attacking anyone, let alone a family member. Amadi heard his silence, so continued. "I didn't really feel guilt at the time; before I met you I felt very unhappy. She covered for me, and still didn't feel guilt. But now I am happy, I'm back to my old self…and I feel horribly guilty. I told her she was dead to me, Taj. How can someone forgive that?"

"Well….Why don't you tell her everything you have told me?" he said, thinking about it for a moment. "If she covered for you it means she wasn't too upset by the whole thing. Now, telling your parents, that's a completely different story."

Amadi nodded, he hadn't even thought about that the entire time he was talking about his sister. "I don't know what they will do…." He said, letting out a sigh. "I have a feeling that if my brother, Dumaka, was still around they would kick me out and pick him to be king in a heart beat."

"Well, he's not around, so you don't have to worry about that. Just tell them, how much can you loose? You'll loose more if you let it eat away at you." Taj smiled as he stretched and stood up. Walking to Amadi he smiled, putting a paw on his shoulder. "You're a good kid, and a smart one at that. You'll know what to say and when to say it."

Amadi nodded and smiled, feeling a happy warm feeling when Taj touched him. "You don't think I'm some freak monster lion?"

"How could I? So what, you like lions. Yea, its kinda messed up that you attacked your own sister, but I still like you. You're my friend, the only one I have." He said with a smile. "Now, its getting dark, scamper on home, you weirdo."

Amadi chuckled and stood up. "Alright alright…" He turned to leave and then looked back at Taj. He turned back around and nuzzled him, then turned away and ran towards home. "Thanks!"

Taj's eyebrows rose in slight surprise to the display of affection. But he smiled, and watched Amadi run off. He sighed and lay back down when the figure finally disappeared; he was growing really attached to Amadi… He actually looked forward to seeing him every day. Whenever there was a day that Amadi didn't come he always felt really sad and alone. He had gotten use to that kid being around. He made him feel…Not so alone…


	9. A Rash Decision

Today was the day, Amadi decided one morning after waking up to watch the sunset. Today was the day that he was going to come forward about what he did to Dalia. He knew that it wouldn't go over well. Dalia would probably be shocked; all that effort she put into keeping his name clean would be for nothing. He knew that his mother would probably cry; she cried a lot at dramatic things. As much as he loved his mother he knew that she had a tendency to be a bit overdramatic. But he also thought that this was an incident that was already dramatic, he didn't think there was a way to over dramatize it. As for his father; Amadi draded the thought. Kovu was usually a fair tempered lion, something that would make him very fit to follow Simba's place as king. But he also had a temper. Kiara often told Amadi that it had something to do with his cub-hood. It didn't matter the reason, all Amadi knew is that Kovu would probably be furious with him.

He didn't want to think of what Simba might do. Simba was the king, even if he wasn't his father Simba had the ultimate decision over everything. He had come to learn, through his mother, that Simba once had a son named Kopa. Zira killed Kopa, resulting in the exile of her and all the other outlanders. As for Scar's violence; that resulted in his ultimate demise. Violence was not tolerated in the pride, and though Amadi's act had nothing to do with murder, he knew that there would be a dire consequence. One thing, he hoped, that would not lead to his exile, or worse, was that he was not nearly as cold hearted as the previous violators of the pride; he had no inner hate and no desire to hurt anyone. Hopefully the pride would take that into consideration.

This thought, this ounce of hope, hardly helped his nerves. But he knew that if he were going to be an honest king one day, that this would have to come forward. That afternoon, he gathered the pride. At first he thought he would only talk to his parents, but the pride was a part of his family, and he wanted to be as honest as possible to everyone. That and he was sick of people finding out about things he did through gossip. This way, he was in control of who knew, and whom he wanted to know.

"What is this about, Amadi?" Kiara asked, sitting near her son as he took a step forward.

"I…I have something to tell all of you. Something that I have done." He said, looking at Dalia with sad eyes, and then looking at the ground with a sigh. "Something I am very ashamed of."

The pride looked at him strangely, and then began to murmur amongst themselves. Kovu's eyes narrowed when he looked at his son, and Kiara's eyes shined with that ditsy incomprehension she often possessed. Dalia, however, knew from the moment Amadi looked at her what this was about. She shook her head, silently telling him no. Don't do it. Stop. Save yourself. But he didn't see. Ayo, who was sat next to Dalia, also knew what was coming. He thought it was about time that Amadi came forward about this; his eyes watching him with shame in his heart.

Amadi cleared his throat, and stood up straight; trying his best to show a modest confidence in such a difficult time. "I know you have all whispered about it, about how strange I am. About how I was with…With Ayo." He said, looking amongst the faces who, shamefully, nodded that they knew. "Well, then I'm sure that you have noticed that that is no more…. Ayo is with Dalia now… Happily with Dalia. When I found this out I was jealous. I spied on them; which I am not proud of."

Kovu watched his son intently, hardly blinking as his whiskers twitched with curiosity. What was his son going on about? Simba sat back and watched, his ears intently listening for the confession of what he knew to be true.

"I was jealous, a horrible emotion that makes good lions do stupid things…As you all have witnessed through the madness of Scar." He knew that the moment he would say that he would get a reaction. He was right, some of the lionesses pinned their ears back, others stared wide eyed at Amadi. "Unlike Scar, however, I feel guilt for my jealousy. I feel remorse, and I am no longer jealous of this beautiful couple. My heart has mended. However, my conscious is not clear…."

The pride tensed, Kovu's eyes were wide now. No… No his son couldn't be planning to say what he thought he was going to say. Hyena's attacked Dalia! Not the future king!

"I was the one who attacked Dalia; Hyena's had nothing to do with it." He confessed, listening to the gasps of the pride as they all stared at him with shock and terror in their hearts. Dalia hung her head low, beginning to cry when she heard his words. Ayo sat back, a paw on her shoulder for comfort.

Kiara backed away from her son, shaking her head as tears welled up in her eyes. "It's not true…" She murmured, biting her lip as she stepped back all the way to Simba. "Not my gentle Amadi."

"It's true, Mum…" He let his head hang low for a moment, loosing his confidence. He quickly regained it and looked to Simba. "I am sorry, Gran—I mean, Sir. I know now that what I have done was horrible, and I beg your forgiveness."

Simba stood stone faced, the way he had been since Amadi started his confession. He did not know what to say to Amadi, and the situation was difficult. Without Dumaka, there was no male successor to the thrown if he exiled or dethroned Amadi. However, there was Dalia, and there was her mate to be, Ayo. Simba looked to Kovu, whose head was turned away from Amadi in shame. Even Kiara wasn't looking at her son.

Simba knew the whole pride feared the same thing. Amadi had always had Scar like physical traits, even more so than Kovu, and now that he had confessed to this crime, the whole pride feared another rein similar to Scars from the King-To-Be. Everyone looked at Simba expectedly; with the exception of Kovu and Kiara.

"Dalia came home very wounded, Amadi. Am I right to assume that if it weren't for Ayo, considering he was there, it would have been worse?" He asked, his tone very disappointed, but just. He wasn't going to explode at Amadi like he did at Kovu once; he was wiser now.

Amadi had to think about this question. The only reason the fight had stopped was because Ayo body slammed him away. He didn't want to think what he might have done to his sister if Ayo didn't stop him. He looked at his sister, scars still remained, and then he looked at Simba. "I believe that….That assumption is correct."

Simba nodded, looking down at Amadi with disappointment. He then turned to Kovu. "When you are king Kovu, if you so desire, you have the right to overrule my decisions. But for now, I get to make the choice. You know what I have thought about this all along, but I gave it time…" He said, implying the conversation he had many months ago with Kovu about whether Amadi was fit to be a king. "Now it is time for me to intervene. Amadi, I view you unfit to be king. I remove you from your position as Prince of the Pride Lands, and exile you from our lands."

The Pride gasped slightly, never in the history of the pride had someone been removed from a royal position in the pride. Kovu did not look at Amadi, but nodded at Simba. Kiara didn't look at anyone.

Amadi hung his head in shame and tried his hardest to keep himself from having an emotional breakdown. He expected to be removed from the thrown, but he really didn't expect to be banished from the Pride Lands. He turned from Simba and looked at his parents. "Mother, Father….I am so sorry."

Kiara didn't look at Amadi, merely hid her face in Kovu's mane. She had lost yet another son. Kovu looked at him with extreme anger and disappointment. "Get out."

Amadi's eyes widened at his fathers words. Tears sprung to his eyes and he lost all composure. He knew that he had been a constant disappointment to his father. Without a word to anyone else, he turned, and left Pride Rock; running as fast as his paws could take him.

Dalia would step forward, ears back and angry at Simba's choice. "You have no right!" She shouted. "It wasn't that bad of a fight, it was just something stupid and caddy! All siblings fight!"

"He might have killed you if it went to far." Simba said, looking down at her with firm eyes. "Do you have any idea what Scar did to my father?"

"Don't compare him to that monster of a lion! It wasn't like that!" Dalia shouted, tears rolling down her face.

Kovu looked at his daughter. "Dalia--"

"Don't Dalia me!" She yelled at her dad before looking back at Simba. "He's our future king! We have no one else! Dumaka is not here, no one has seen him for months! Who will be king?!"

Simba looked at Dalia and stood up. "You will be queen with Ayo by your side. You are of royal blood, and you are with him. You two shall rule in Amadi's stead."

Ayo's eyes widened. He couldn't do that, he had his own pride to rule. Dalia understood this. "But Ayo isn't even a member of this pride! He has his own land to rule."

"I have talked to his mother, Zahra, a while ago about permanently joining the pride. I had my suspicions from the moment you limped into the den. I needed to make sure, I made precautions." He said, looking to Zahra. "She agreed a while ago that if we ever needed Ayo as king that she would be honored."

Ayo looked to Zahra. "Mother? Why didn't you tell me about this?" He asked, eyes wide with confusion.

"I ventured back to our old lands, Ayo. The land has not healed from the fire; there is no life, no water. We can not survive there." She said softly. "It is an honor to join prides with the pride of The Pride Lands. Many honorable kings have ruled here. And I am honored that King Simba would ask you. And so should you."

Ayo knew that look on his mother's face. Nodding slightly, he looked to Simba. "I accept…."

Dalia stared at Ayo and then at Simba. "No…No no, this isn't right. I'm fine! I'm alive. It was just a stupid fight! He didn't mean it! Amadi is the rightful king!" She yelled, then turned to Kovu. "Daddy, please, bring him back! He's your son!"

"I am not the King, Dalia… Simba has spoken." Kovu said, standing and heading to the den. He had experienced exile himself; it was horrible. But he had not done anything to deserve it. But Amadi…. Oh Amadi. How could he attack Dalia? Had he not been told many times of the story of Scar. Kovu shook his head. One son missing, the other exiled for a sever crime; Kovu's heart grew cold and reserved. "And he's no son of mine."

Simba knew that the decision was very harsh, but Amadi had caused nothing but trouble and drama since day one. The Pride Lands needed a good future, and after Scar and Zira, Simba wasn't going to take any chances. Though this was the hardest thing he ever had to do, he thought it was the right decision.

…

Amadi ran through the Pride Lands and out, tears never stopping as his chest ached from the lack of rest and the constant panting. He ran out of the borders to the only place he knew a rogue lion banished for attacking a pride member could go to.

After an hours running behind him, Amadi saw the lush paradise that Taj called home in the distance. Panting, Amadi found his body could no longer run; his muscles ached, and his eye sight was obscured from crying too much.

"Taj…" He called out weakly as he wobbled his way into the trees to find the water hole. He coughed as he reached the water, lapping it up with great thirst, for he had been running for a long time through a hot land. He was so happy for the drink that he did not notice Taj approaching from behind.

"Wow, calm down kid; don't want you drainin' the whole pool." He said with a chuckle. He was a joker, of course, but the moment Amadi turned to face him he knew that something had gone terribly wrong. "Amadi, what's wrong?"

Amadi coughed slightly, he had accidently inhaled some water after being startled by Taj. When he turned to face Taj, his expression was of obvious distress. "I was exiled…"

Taj's eyes widened slightly, his mouth dropping open slightly. Stepping forward he put a paw on Amadi's shoulder. "What happened?"

Amadi spent the next half an hour or so explaining how he gathered the pride, and confessed everything. He went through everything that Simba had said to him, and the way his father shunned him. "But I deserve it. I did a horrible thing…"

"Yeah, but I don't think it was worth this." Taj said, completely shocked. He knew that the pride was fragile; Amadi had told him about Scar and Zira. It seemed, to him at least, that this was Simba's way of correcting past wrongs.

"Well…Apparently it was." Amadi mumbled, laying down and hiding his face with his paws. "I'm a monster. A monster they compared to Scar, a monster who attacks their own sister out of jealousy. I am Scar… I am a monster…"

Taj lay down beside him, draping his front legs over the back of Amadi. Gently, he nuzzled Amadi with compassion and understanding. "You are nothing like this Scar character… You are a good lion…"

Amadi started to sob again, but this time he didn't say anything, he curled around to nuzzle up against Taj. "You can stay here with me." Taj said softly, trying to sooth the pain right out of Amadi. "Together we will rule our little piece of heaven, and not worry about other things. Forget them, forget the pain they have caused. You can be happy now."

Amadi would cry himself into a restless sleep, nuzzled up with Taj; twitching occasionally from uncomfortable dreams. Taj wanted to be there for Amadi; no one else was, so he lay there with him until he woke up.

When Amadi finally woke up, he had a moment where he didn't know where he was… But then he remembered what happened, and remembered why he was lying up against Taj. Taj had fallen asleep, so Amadi carefully moved so he wouldn't wake the lion. He didn't know what to make of this new home. He had only ever spent just a few hours with Taj, never the whole night let alone the rest of his life.

Standing, he walked to the watering hole, taking a few laps before looking around. This place was beautiful, at the very least. If he had to be banished to anywhere he was defiantly happy that it was here. Looking at Taj he sighed. What a gentle lion, Taj was. Well, compared to most lions. He smiled softly as he watched the male sleep, but then he abruptly shook his head.

No! He wasn't going to make the same mistake he made with Ayo. He refused to go through that again. He didn't want to get hurt, and he didn't want to hurt anyone else. Sighing, he realized he wouldn't be able to stay here long if he harbored soft feelings for Taj. Walking, he decided to inspect what local prey there was about; he was quite hungry after running for so long and emotionally exhausting himself.

After about half an hour of searching he came across a small herd of warthogs. Not the most appealing prey around, and their tusks made them annoying to hunt, but beggars couldn't be choosers. Now that he had to fend for himself his hunting skills would be put to the test. Crouching low, he tried to remember everything his mother and father taught him. He stepped forward, little flashes of the scene from the river where the crocodiles killed the zebra popping into his head. Shaking his head, he pushed them away. Now, while his belly was growling from hunger, was not a good time to be soft.

He slowly stepped forward, keeping his ears flat and his tail down so not to give him away. Downwind, he got very close to the family of warthogs, and with a roar, he leapt into the air, right upon one of the bigger males. It was a bit of a struggle to kill it, once the others scattered the male began to thrash about, determined not to be dinner. Growling, Amadi found the neck of the creature, but not after being gashed by one of the tusks.

Wincing, he thought about pulling away. But this would be his first kill ever without the help of a pride; he was determined to prove himself to Taj and to himself. Teeth already in the creatures neck, he clamped down hard, killing the beast. He sighed and pulled back, trying to find where the blood was coming from. His face? He ran a paw over his right eye.

Wow, he thought to himself, I'm lucky I didn't loose my eye. Thinking nothing of the wound, he picked the warthog up by its throat and carried it to Taj.

Taj was not awake, but Amadi nudged him with his paw, proudly displaying his kill. Yawning, Taj sleepily looked up at Amadi. "Wow, look at that. You're a hunter after all." He chuckled, standing so he could see Amadi's face. "What…What happened to your eye?"

"Oh, the warthog got me. But its fine, I can see. Must be nothing." He said after dropping it.

"I don't know, Amadi, it looks really deep!" He said, moving close to Amadi's face to examine it. "I'm surprised your not in pain, go check out your reflection."

Amadi walked to the water and looked in. Blood stained one side of his face where a deep gash ran down from his forehead all the way down to his jaw line. He gasped slightly and stepped into the water, dunking his head in to wash it off. As he surfaced, more blood ran over his face, dirtying up the wet fur.

He smirked, and that smirk turned into a smile, and then into a laugh. Laughter became hysterical, and he didn't stop until Taj joined him in the water.

"Haahahahaaa, look Taj. Grandpa Simba was right." He said, unable to stop laughing. Turning, he looked at Taj. "I am just like Scar."


	10. Choices

**Just as a warning, this chapter has some suggestive content. If you don't like homosexuality stop reading now… No gross, furry, lion sex or anything like that; just 'suggestive'content.**

A month had passed since the exile of Amadi and a tense vibe had started to linger over the pride. Things were not going as Simba planned. Dalia had become very distant and almost always refused leadership training. She had also began to isolate herself from Ayo. She did care for Ayo, more than she had cared for anyone else, but she didn't think it was right. Though it was making her suffer inside, she figured that if she refused to make Ayo her king that Simba would have to bring Amadi back. A queen could not take the thrown without a king; an heir needed to be ensured.

This confused Ayo greatly, not to mention the obvious concern he had for his future position as king. He was ok with the idea of ruling his original land, but The Pride Lands was the biggest and most successful kingdom in the savanna. How could he, one who wasn't even of royal Pride Lander blood, expect to rule to the standards of the future kings. Not to mention, he felt very guilty about replacing Amadi. He wished there was a way out of this…

Kovu had grown very reserved since the exile of his son, and emotional exhaustion was getting the best of him. Despite the fact that he had stated that he had disowned his son, he felt great anger and guilt to the way he had treated Amadi. He couldn't help but think that everything that happened with Amadi was all his fault. This torment had started to effect his health. Occasionally, he would not feel up to eating, and he had aged greatly from the stress.

Kiara missed her son, and it was obvious. At this point, she had put the attack on Dalia behind her and wanted her son back. She had fought with Simba numerous times, demanding that he reconsider and bring her son home. She just couldn't understand Simba's stubbornness. She knew, along with the rest of the pride, that the main reason Amadi was exiled was because Simba was afraid he would turn out just like Scar. Kiara thought this was ridiculous and knew that Amadi was not capable of such evil. It was just hysteria.

The whole ordeal had aged Simba greatly. Streaks of silver had formed in his mane, his body thinned with age, and his health was only going down hill. The king new that he did not have much time left on this earth, and he only hoped that things would make a positive turn around before he left.

Nala had noticed her kings declining physical state and began to worry. Kovu was not ready, or in the correct mindset to rule. She didn't know what would become of the kingdom if Simba passed away… She tried her hardest not to think about it; she couldn't imagine a life without Simba and dreaded to think the mess he might leave behind….

Everyone knew things had gotten worse… The pride was beginning to wish that the exile had never happened. It wasn't because they had faith in Amadi, but something about Amadi had kept the pride peaceful, had given people possible hope. And now it was gone. Everyone was questioning Simba's choice; no one wanted to see Ayo take the thrown. It wasn't that they didn't like him or Dalia, but it wasn't traditional. And they knew that Ayo did not have the ability to rule; he had no experience… The Pride needed help…

"Kovu?" Kiara said softly, walking up to the lion who was lying down lazily at the peek of the rock. "Honey, why don't you come in and eat something, we just got back from a hunt."

Kovu lifted his head and smiled softly at Kiara. It was a weak smile, one that wasn't a true sign of happiness. "No thanks… I'm not very hungry today." He said in a low note before turning his head to look back over the pride lands. Every day he took some time, staring out over the land. He didn't know why, but subconsciously it was because he hoped that he would see Amadi. See him walking back with that funny skip in his step that he always had. See him coming back home.

Kiara sighed and sat next to him, looking at him with sad eyes. "I know things are hard now, Kovu. But we can't let that destroy us. We need to hold strong and have faith that everything will turn out alright." She said gently, knowing that Kovu felt great sadness for the loss of his son.

Kovu didn't respond, making Kiara sigh. It was as if Kovu hadn't even heard her. "I miss Amadi too…" She said, as if reading his mind as her eyes traced Kovu's gaze out over the savanna.

Kovu's head turned quickly to look at Kiara when she spoke Amadi's name. The name almost made him want to yell at her, or to cry and beg for comfort… both seemed unpleasant, so he remained quiet and looked back over the land. All he offered was a slight nod.

'Stop staring, Kovu', he thought to himself as he let out a long sigh. 'You know he wont come back on his own… You were horrible to him. He wouldn't want to come home, and he isn't allowed to.'

But just as he was lost in his own thoughts a figure appeared in the tall grass. He had to squint his eyes shut several times to make sure the figure was there, but it defiantly was. The shadow of a lion in front of the setting sun! "Amadi?" He asked out loud, quickly getting to his feet to get a better look at the distant lion.

"What?" Kiara demanded, also standing, her eyes catching the lion. She shook her head, hating to be the one to bring down Kovu's hope. "No, that can't be Amadi. His mane is too full. And look, he has a lioness with him."

Kovu's heart dropped and he let out a quick sigh. But now wasn't the time to mope again, who were the strange lions. "Get Simba, I'll go investigate." And with that, he climbed down Pride Rock and went to meet the strangers. New males were always a possible threat to the pride, and it needed to be quickly established whether the new comers were threats.

Kovu grew near, head tall and proud so to seem intimidating if necessary. With the setting sun, it was hard to make out any detail of the figures. "State your business here." He stated I a calm and fair tone.

"Really, is that any way to great your son?" The voice asked, a chuckle following as the figure stepped close enough to be made out in the lighting. It was Dumaka.

Kovu's eyes widened with surprise, he was almost frozen in shock. But he shook his head, making sure he wasn't hallucinating, and then grinned. "Du!" He said, running up to the lion, nuzzling him lovingly.

Dumaka laughed and returned the affection to his father. "And here I was thinking you wouldn't want to see me." He said, tearing up slightly from the heart wrenching reunion.

"Son, I never meant what I said." Kovu said, looking at him with apologetic but relieved eyes. "I was so worried that….That you were dead.. We never found you, I thought…. I thought I had killed my son."

Dumaka sadly looked at his father and nuzzled against him as if he was a cub again. "It's not your fault, Dad…. It's not your fault. I'm fine… I'm alive." He murmured softly. He then looked to the female with him. "Oh, Dad, this is Ami; the princess of the pride who took me in…and my mate."

Kovu smiled and stepped back, proud eyes looking from Dumaka to his love, Ami. "Pleasure to meet you, Ami. You are welcome here with Dumaka." He said, grinning as he looked back at his son. "Look how much you have grown…."

Dumaka smirked and shook his head slightly. He defiantly had grown; his muscles were very well developed and his redish brown mane was large and full. He was a bit bigger than Kovu, about Simba's size. "Yeah… It has been a while…"

"Dumaka?!" Came a voice from behind Kovu. Kiara came running up, her eyes staring in disbelief. "It is you! My god, your ok!" She ran right up to him and nuzzled him strongly under the chin.

Dumaka affectionately nuzzled his mother. "Yes Mom, I'm home… And I'm ok." He said with a smile. "I'm sorry for all the trouble and worry I caused. I never meant it to go this far… I wasn't thinking."

"Don't talk about that now, all that matters is that you are safe." Kiara said, tears happily running down her face as she stepped next to Kovu.

The whole pride had come down with Kiara when she had told Simba about the strangers walking to Pride Rock. They had all been very curious, and now they were all very happy to see Dumaka and meet Ami.

Dalia shared a very tearful, but happy reunion with Dumaka; that is after she cuffed him hard on the face and shouting at him for running off in the first place. Dumaka didn't mind, he had missed Dalia most of all and probably deserved the swat.

As Dumaka talked to the pride members, and returned all the affection displayed towards him, a question floated into his mind. Where was Amadi? He didn't see his quirky younger brother. Was it possible that he saw him coming and didn't want to see him? Could he still be mad after all these months? "Mom, Dad… Where is Amadi?" He asked, looking around the pride. His eyebrows rose in slight surprise to the looks on his parents face when they mentioned his name. "Aw man, he's not still sore with me, is he?"

Kovu sighed and shook his head. "We have a lot to tell each other, Dumaka." He said, shifting his eyes slightly. "Let's head back to Pride Rock, share our stories, and talk some things over."

"You exiled Amadi!?" Dumaka demanded after hearing a long and detailed retelling of what happened.

"Did you not hear about the part where he attacked your sister?" Simba asked, rolling his eyes slightly. He got this exact reaction from Dalia, he really hated having to explain this over and over.

"Yea, but that sounds like kid stuff. A typical teenage scratch. I mean, yea, it was wrong of him, and Dalia, please don't take this the wrong way, but it wasn't worth exile!" Dumaka said, shaking his head.

"That's what I said, actually." Dalia said, rolling her eyes as she sat a ways back from Dumaka and Simba.

"The last time there was jealousy between siblings in this pride a King died." Simba said, giving Dumaka a look.

"Amadi is not Scar, Grandfather, and he never will be. I had a lot of time to think while I was gone. I wrong Amadi. Yea, he was different, and really really different, but still, this is wrong. We all treat him like the plague. You didn't exile him because of this thing with Dalia, you exiled him because it was a way to get him out of the prides fur!"

Simba was shocked to silence, but his eyebrows narrowed and he growled a little. "Don't speak to me this way." Simba said angrily. "Who are you to speak after vanishing for months."

"Why not? Seems to me that you've all been making horrible decisions for Amadi while I was gone. And I thought I was the ass of the family." He shook his head and looked at his father. "Dad, who will be king now? After you, who will be king?"

"Well, Dalia and Ayo were picked as the successors." Kovu, not looking directly into his son's eyes.

"How is that going to work?" Dumaka asked, looking very confused for a moment. "Ayo has his own kingdom to rule."

"His mother agreed to stay here if we needed--"

"No, no that's not right." Dumaka said, shaking his head as he looked to Ayo and then to Simba. "It's Ayo's destiny to rule his own pride. And it's Amadi's to rule here. You can't just tear someone away from their destiny"

Simba cocked his head slightly, looking at Dumaka with slight amusement. "If you had not run off we wouldn't have had this problem." Simba said spitefully. But he took in a deep breath, so to regain his kingly composure. It was not good for a king to say petty things. "Now that your back, maybe you could--"

"No, I can't do that." Dumaka said with a sigh, shaking his head.

"Why not? Technically speaking, your next in line. Your of royal blood." Kovu said, walking up to his son.

"Dad, the pride who took me in needs me. I love Ami, I can't take her away from them and I wont leave without her. I'm her king. I owe that pride a lot. Dad, they are like my family." He said very carefully. "I'm sorry."

"You would betray your pride to rule another?" Simba asked angrily.

"No. I'm not meant to be king here, I was never meant to be king. But destiny gave me the chance when I met Ami and her pride." Dumaka said, getting very angry with Simba. "Your betraying this pride, and everyone else involved!"

Simba's eyes widened and he growled. "What?!"

"You are taking Ayo's purpose away from him! Your forcing Dalia into a position she obviously doesn't want! And you sent Amadi away because you didn't think he would make a good king! I know this to be true, you blame it on the fight, but I know that's not the case! You didn't even give Amadi a chance!"

Kovu stepped forward. "Du, you yourself said you didn't think Amadi could make a good king."

"Dad, I was young and stupid. I didn't understand Amadi. He was weird, unusual, and not what one would expect from a king." Dumaka said to Kovu before turning to Simba. "But Amadi was kind, fair, and a wise. He was everything we could only hope to be. I was jealous of him, and I didn't know why because I thought he was a freak. I was jealous of how the lionesses adored his gentle heart, I was jealous about how all of the animals in the kingdom loved him but not me. I was young….young and stupid. I didn't give him a chance, and now you guys aren't."

The Pride began to murmur amongst themselves. Kovu and Kiara looked at each other and then at Dumaka. Simba sighed and shook his head. "Enough… We already have a plan now…. We have no need for this." Simba said stubbornly.

Kiara stepped forward. "Daddy, what's happened to you? You are usually such a wise king. And now your just stubborn. Stubborn and afraid." She bit her lip and let a tear run down her face. "I got Dumaka back, Daddy, and Dalia is perfectly healthy. I want Amadi home… I want all of my babies together again."

"I said enough…" He said, looking away from his daughter. "My decision was final, we don't need Amadi."

"Yes you do." Dalia said, stepping forward; her head held high with pride. "Father, Grandpa; everyone…. I decline your offer… I refuse to be Queen."

Ayo looked at Dalia with surprised, but obviously relieved eyes. The rest of the pride gasped, and Simba stared at Dalia with disbelief. Dalia remained proud and continued. "Ayo will return to his home and be king to his own pride, as he is destined to be. And I will go with him as his Queen."

Kiara and Kovu stared at their daughter, but both of them understood. Simba on the other had was furious. What was once a wise king was now a stubborn old lion who hated being ganged up on. Biting his lip he growled and turned his backs on all of them. "Fine." Was the only word they had to offer.

Dalia smiled and turned to Dumaka. "We have to go find Amadi." She said, looking to their parents. "We'll make the journey, you guys are needed here."

Dumaka nodded and laughed. "I promise I'll come home this time." He said with a grin before turning to Ami. "I need to find my brother…"

The lioness smiled and nodded understandingly. "And I'll be right here waiting when you get back." She said, nuzzling him lovingly.

And with that, the two set off. They had no idea where Amadi might have run off to, but with Dalia's hunting and tracking abilities, and with Dumaka's strength; the two were sure they would find their brother.

…

Back in the oasis, Amadi had been living in Taj's land. His wound from the warthog had healed, but unfortunately left behind a rather nasty scar that stretched from the top of his head all the way down to his jawline.

Despite the fact his mind had been manipulated into thinking he was as horrible as Scar, and now he had the scar to prove it, he was happy. He and Taj had grown very close; it almost reminded him of what he and Ayo use to have. But Amadi had to be careful this time. One, he really didn't know how many lions there were like him and he found it very unlikely that he would just happen to meet one. And two he really didn't want to be hurt again. Not to mention if he tried to seek out what he desired and Taj didn't like him that way it would be really awkward.

One thing that fascinated Amadi, though, was that Taj new about his attraction to other males, and yet he didn't mind being around Amadi. In fact, Taj was very fond of Amadi. When one was use to living alone for so long, one craved friendship. Amadi offered friendship and so much more.

Taj had never thought about it before, but he had never seeked out the company of lionesses. Ususally, rogue males would seek out lone females or attempt to take over a pride. But he had been content with being by himself. And now he was content being with Amadi. He really didn't know what to make of the attraction, though, or what might have set it off. Possibly it was from the fact that Amadi pretty much looks like a girl… But he doubted it.

Sighing, Taj rolled over in his sleep, staring up at the stars before looking over at the sleeping Amadi. They had had a good day. After a very successful hunt together, the two explored parts of the jungle that even Taj had not ventured to. Then when they came back they played in the water, attempting to catch the smallest of fishes for fun. Taj caught a few, swallowing the tricky little fish down. Amadi was good at catching them, but he always let them go. And now, after talking for a few hours, they slept in the comfortable cool of the night.

Well, Taj wasn't sleeping. He was watching Amadi, which he found slightly creepy. Sighing, he rolled back onto his stomach, brushing up against Amadi's side. 'God, no wonder Amadi is such a mess sometimes; this is a pain in the ass to go through…' He thought to himself. But why was he being so self conscious about it? Amadi was open about it, and since he was the only other lion around for miles, so why should Taj even care?

Closing his eyes he moved closer to Amadi and began to nuzzle him gently. "Amadi…?" He murmured in a soothing tone as he began to lovingly groom Amadi.

"Hmm?" Amadi asked in a sleepy grumble, his eyes still closed as he stayed in a half sleep. His ears would twitch slightly when he felt warmth run over them; Taj was licking him.

"Aww… Look who's all sleepy." Taj said with a deep throated chuckle as he focuses his grooming on Amadi's neck and ears.

"It's the middle of the night, you should be too." Amadi grumbled, still kind of asleep. As he became more awake, and slightly irritable from being woken, he began to notice the attention given to him. He froze slightly, wondering if he was dreaming. "What are you doing?"

"Grooming you…" Taj murmured softly he rest a paw on Amadi's back.

"B-but we were in…in water today… I'm clean." He stuttered, feeling very emotionally flustered and suddenly very awake.

"I don't care." Taj said in a caring, but playfully gruff tone. His licking grew longer and more rhythmic as he let out a long, sensuous sigh.

Amadi closed his eyes, loosing his body to the touch. "But I thought…" He started, his voice trailing off.

"You thought wrong…Your not alone in this world, Amadi." Taj whispered, nipping lightly at his left ear. "I care for you…I think I love you…"

Amadi would have been bright red if it weren't for his fur. He was feeling a huge amount of overwhelming emotion. Love? No one he had cared about ever loved him before… "I… I love you too." Amadi responded, his head low, submissive, and happily smiling to Taj and the wonderful attention he was giving him.

The feeling Taj received from this sharing of affections was even greater than he expected. Such happiness could not come from just a superstition. He really cared for Amadi, he knew this to be certain, and it made him the happiest lion alive.

Slowly, Taj stood, standing half over Amadi, licking his ears, neck and back. "Do you trust me?" He asked gently, purring softly and seductively.

Amadi looked over his shoulder at Taj, looking into his eyes with nervous but loving eyes. "Yes….Yes I do…"

…

The next morning Amadi woke up much later than he usually did. He was half laying over Taj, which made him smile. What a wonderful way to wake up. Slowly he stood, stretching as he looked down at Taj. Last night had to have been the best night he ever had. It made him completely forget about home, about his family, about the fact he was under exile. Leaning down, he licked Taj softly on the cheek then went to the water to drink and have a refreshing, morning bath.

Once out of the water he went out to find something for them to eat. He wanted to surprise Taj with a good meal; something a bit greater than a warthog. As he searched, he came upon a group of zebra. He cringed slightly, ever since the river event as a cub he had not been able to kill or eat zebra. But he had to be stronger, now. He had to prove his worth to his beloved Taj; he wanted to work out all of his personal, irrational quirks.

As he crouched he neared the herd grazing in a small clearing. The grass was short, so he had to wait in the brush of the jungle until one of the zebra came close to the trees. He waited for a good twenty minutes, and then one finally wandered into range. But as he tensed to pounce a noise in the distance spooked the zebra. He watched in annoyance as the zebra's heads shot up in the air, bodies turned, and they took off.

He let out an annoyed growl and exposed himself to the clearing, walking on the short grass. He had heard where the noise came from. Maybe it was another predator, Taj often spoke of how he had to chase off the occasional leopard. But his eyes widened with surprise as he watched two lions walk out of the bushes to join him in the clearing. And they weren't just any lions, it was Dalia and Dumaka.

"Amadi!" Dalia yelled out, jumping into a run as she darted up to her brother, pouncing him playfully to the ground. She gasped slightly when her eyes caught site of the scar running down his right eye. "What happened to your face?" she asked as she crawled off of him.

Amadi just lay there in surprise for a moment before managing to get to his feet. "It's great to see you too." He said as he turned to look at Dumaka. His eyebrows arched in disbelief. "Du…?"

"Hey there, big brother." Dumaka said with a smile, walking up to Amadi, looking down on him. "Or should I say little?"

Amadi grinned and playfully pounced Dumaka. "Nope, still your big brother!" He said, laughing and he hopped off of him. "Where have you been?! I… I thought you were dead."

"So did everyone else." Dalia said with a smile. "He came back about a week ago. And now were here with you. All three of us together again."

Amadi grinned, but then his smile faded slightly. "But… What are you doing here?" He asked curiously, wondering why they would bother searching for him.

"We came to bring you back home." Dumaka said with a grin. "Your pride needs its future king."

Amadi quirked a brow at Dumaka, shaking his head in disbelief. "Didn't they tell you? I'm exiled."

Dalia grinned. "No anymore!" She said proudly as she nuzzled Amadi. "Dumaka found a mate and is going to be king of another pride, and I refused to be queen. So Simba had to take you back!"

Amadi looked from one to the other. He really didn't know what to say. So many questions he had to ask them, so many things he wanted to know. But at the same time there was a bigger problem at hand. He was happy here, happy here with Taj. He missed The Pride Lands so much, and he missed his family, but at the same time he couldn't leave Taj. How could he leave the one he loved? And he doubted it would be acceptable for him to bring Taj home with him.

Just as he was about to say something there was noise behind them. He saw Dumaka tense as the much bigger Taj walked up next to Amadi. Taj looked less than pleased that this new male was in his land. "What's going on here?" He demanded, stepping in front of Amadi protectively.

"Taj, stop it…" Amadi said, nudging him slightly. "Taj, these are my siblings; Dumaka and Dalia. Guys, this is Taj…..My mate."

Taj remained in his dominant stance as he watched the expressions on his siblings change from fear of Taj to surprise. Dalia didn't know what to make of this situation, but politely smiled. Dumaka, on the other hand, was not going to make the same mistake. Stepping forward he smiled.

"I'm not here as a threat to your land, Taj; I can assure you of that. We just came looking for our brother." He said softly, smiling. He then looked at Amadi. "Does he make you happy?"

Amadi was shocked by the question. But he smiled, pleasantly surprised with Dumaka's acceptance. "Yes…He does."

Dumaka smiled and sighed. "Well, this is a problem. Not because of Taj. Trust me, I'm happy that your happy…" He said carefully. "But Amadi, we need you back at home."

Before Amadi could say anything Taj jumped in. "You're the ones who sent him off in the first place! You forced him away." He protested. "He's happy here, he's happier with me than he ever was with you lions; trust me, I know. I've been here for Amadi when you never were."

"I know we have made bad decisions." Dalia said to keep Dumaka's head cool. "But Amadi, we really need you back at home. Momma and Daddy are a mess, and I'm sure that Grampy-Simba will come around. Please Amadi. We all want and need you back."

Amadi stood there, looking back and forward from his siblings to Taj. He did miss his family and his homeland, but he couldn't leave Taj. Could he get away with bringing Taj home with him? Because he knew that he wouldn't leave unless he did that. He really didn't know what to do…

**Alright, time to make this story a bit more fun. A lot of depressing crap has happened, and to make up for it I'm going to add some excitement. The fate of the next chapter is in your hands!**

**When you go to post a review you have to make a vote. And your vote will detirmine whether Amadi goes home or stays with Taj. Think wisely because each result has its pros and cons. Ok, here are the options.**

**Post "Return" if you want Amadi to return to The Pride Lands with his siblings, and without Taj.**

**Post "Stay" if you want Amadi to stay in the jungle with Taj.**

**Post "Taj" if you want Amadi to risk going home and bringing Taj with him.**

**THE CHOICE IS YOURS! CHOOSE WISELY!**


	11. Return

**Return: 2**

**Stay: 0**

**Taj: 13**

**Well, I guess the decision was almost unanimous. Voting closed.**

It would be a long journey back, but the walk and physical strain had no match for the emotional and nervous stress that Amadi was feeling. It took a while, but eventually Dumaka and Dalia got Amadi to agree to come. The deciding factor was when Taj said he would go with Amadi. Amadi wasn't about to leave Taj for the Pride Lands, so Dumaka and Dalia were the ones who actually suggested it.

Amadi was worried, though he was glad he would have Taj there with them there was always the concern that Amadi bringing a male home with him would make things worse. That, and he was now sporting a scar on his right eye. Really, could the fates really be so against him? Did whomever design this world want Simba to hate him? Letting out a sigh, Amadi drug his paws slightly as they walked through the desert.

"Relax, Amadi. Grandpa said you could come back, so this can't be too bad." Dalia said softly, nuzzling her brother lightly on the shoulder as they walked.

"The only reason I'm allowed back is because you guys didn't give him any other choice…" He sighed slightly and looked at Dalia. "He thinks I'm Scar…He hates me."

"No he doesn't…" Dumaka said, shaking his head slightly.

Taj grunted slightly, rolling his eyes. "Sure seems like it." He looked at Dalia and sighed. "What is his problem, anyway? Why does he hate Amadi so much."

Amadi chuckled and nuzzled up against Taj. "That's what I would like to know."

"He doesn't hate Amadi. He's just scared. The Pride Lands have seen some rough years. Every generation has had its problems." Dumak began to explain. "Unfortunately for Grandpa Simba, he's the one who had to deal with it all. He means well, he's just letting his fear get the best of him. Sometimes fear turns to hysteria. It's not so much that Amadi is a bad lion, because he's not, as much as Amadi represents a difference that the pride doesn't understand. Over the past, difference has caused us a lot of problems. He's just being careful."

"Yeah, but at what cost?" Taj asked, shaking his head. "He exiled an innocent lion, his own grandson, even."

"Well, not to be rude, so don't take offense to this Amadi, this type of difference is something the pride has never seen before." Dalia explained. "All of us, even I, didn't know how to deal with this difference."

"And it doesn't help that I apparently look like Scar." Amadi said with a slight chuckle. "I'm sure the scar on my face wont help either."

"I don't know about that." Dumaka said with a slight shrug. "I mean, Dad has a scar. And, you know, from the stories Mum and Dad have told us, it seems like your going through similar things Dad did. Not for the same reasons, but Grandpa didn't like Dad at first start."

"I guess it runs in the family." Taj said with a slight chuckle, managing to get a smile out of Amadi.

"Grandpa is just scared. He's dealt with a lot in his life. Something always went wrong, and he had to learn from it. This is just another thing that he'll have to learn from. I'm sure he'll come around. " Dalia said softly, smiling at Amadi.

"I hope so." Amadi said, feeling a bit brighter about the subject. "I guess in all fairness I haven't really put a lot of potential into this whole king thing. I need to try harder. I can learn how to fight. I'll try to lion up a bit."

"You shouldn't have to change for them." Taj said, shaking his head.

"I use to think the same way. But I'm not changing for them, anymore. I want to change for me. I want to be the lion that I need to be to be king." He said with a determined smile.

"Well, don't change too much." Dumaka said with a chuckle, crouching low and pouncing his brother to the ground. "I still like my pussy-cat of a brother; no mane, only paws and whiskers."

Amadi laughed and swatted up at his brother, pushing him off and stumbling to his feet. "Oh don't worry, I don't expect myself to be able to bulk up as much as you. And I could never get rid of Taj." He said, walking up to Taj and nuzzling him affectionately. "I just want to be stronger, and wiser. I wan't to be the king that no one expects I can be. I'll prove them wrong, but I'll also make them proud."

Dalia smiled and nodded. "We can all help you with that. I'll help you become a better hunter, Dumaka can help you with diplomacy, and Taj, I don't know him very well, but he looks like one hell of a fighter. I'm sure he could help you with that."

Taj grinned and pushed Amadi with his paw. "Yea, if its what ya want, I can toughen you up." He said with a smile.

Grinning, Amadi started to walk again. "Thanks guys. I won't let you down." He said, walking with that goofy stride of his he had when he was happy. "Well, let's get going! I have been away from home for far too long."

…

The walk home didn't seem like so much of a hassle anymore ever since Dalia, Dumaka and Taj managed to cheer up Amadi. Soon Pride Rock could be seen as the foursome entered the Pride Lands. Amadi felt nervous again, but he wasn't as stressed as he was before. They had been traveling for a few hours, the sun was beginning to set, but home was only a mile or two away.

As they approached the giant rock, a figure could be seen staning at the point of Pride Rock. It was Kiara, she had rarely left that spot since Dalia and Dumaka went out to find Amadi. Grinning, her eyes caught the figures.

"Kovu! Kovu they are home!" She announced before running back down Pride Rock to greet her children. Grinning, she ran right up to Amadi and nuzzled him. "Oh my baby…My Amadi! I am so sorry I allowed this to happen." And that was when she noticed the scar. Her eyes widened slightly. "Baby, what happened to your eye?"

Amadi let out a relieved sigh; they had missed him. "Relax Mum, I'm fine and I'm glad to be back." He said, letting out a sigh. "The scar… It was, embarrassingly, a hunting accident."

Kovu followed soon after, climbing down the rock to meet up with his three cubs. His eyes spotted Taj and he instantly tensed. But then he looked at his son. He sighed slightly; he had felt such guilt for the way he treated his son. "Amadi…I…." He stopped when he saw the scar.

Amadi smiled, he could see in his fathers eyes that he was trying to apologize; make amends. "It's ok, Dad." He said with a smile, walking up to Kovu and nuzzling him happily under the mane like he use to as a cub. "And I'll repeat myself; hunting accident."

Kovu let out a relieved sigh and wrapped an arm around his son. "So…. Who's your friend?" He asked, looking to Taj.

"Oh! How rude of me." Amadi said, jumping up and going to Taj's side. He cleared his throat nervously. "This is Taj… He's, uh… He's my mate."

He could see the surprise in Kovu's eyes, but he could also tell that Kovu was trying really hard not to be rude. "That's great, Hun." Kiara said, cutting in quickly to cover up Kovu's loss of composure. "Now all of my babies have someone to love. I'm so happy. It's a pleasure to meet you, Taj."

"The pleasure is mine, ma'am." Taj said, bowing his head for a moment, smiling at Amadi. So far so good.

Amadi smiled, he was happy that they were trying to make them feel accepted, but he was worried what Simba would think. It didn't take long for the commotion to attract the attention of the pride. And with the pride came the King and Queen.

Nala, bless her gentle soul, was happy to see Amadi. She had missed the gentle cub. She also knew to look past the scar on his face. Ever since Kovu came around, the meaning of the scar was wiped away; at least to Nala.

Simba sighed, approaching the group. He had felt guilty over the past few days. After a consult with Rifiki to try to ease his troubling mind, he had realized that he had been a bit unfair. But he was stubborn, everyone knew this. It took a war and the risk of loosing his own daughter for him to accept Kovu and the outlanders, so it would probably take a bit before he could fully accept Amadi and his differences.

His eye brows rose when he saw Amadi and the new scar he was sporting. Was this some sort of joke? Why was Amadi throwing this in his face?

Kiara went up to Simba. "Daddy, Amadi is home…Home with his mate." She said to him on the side before he fully approached Amadi. She thought it was best to prepare him.

"His mate?" Simba asked, quirking an eyebrow as he looked over the group. That was when his eyes caught site of Taj. He instantly felt intimidated. He had not seen a lion that big since his own father, Mufasa. "You mean that lion?!"

"Daddy, please. Give Amadi a chance to be himself. And give Taj a chance. Look, the lionesses already like him." Kiara said with a smile, looking at Amadi and Taj.

Simba looked at Amadi and the new lion. The lionesses had crowded around to greet Taj. Taj was smiling, laughing, and really making a good first impression on the pride. Letting out a sigh he approached the crowd.

Amadi nudged Taj when Simba approached and everyone went silent. Simba looked down at Amadi, his eyes running over the scar on his face. But he managed a smile and looked to Taj.

Taj instantly bowed his head in respect. "Sire." He said with respect before raising his head.

"Please… No need for formalities." He said, managing a smile. "I hear you're a part of the family now. Call me Simba. Your welcome here…." And then he looked down to Amadi and gave him a gentle smile. Despite his anger towards Amadi, he had missed his Grandson. "Welcome back, kiddo."

Amadi smiled and stood up proud. "I know that I haven't done a good job at proving myself to you. But I swear I will!" He said with a grin. "I will be the King you expect me to be."

Simba nodded shortly, and tried his best to keep his smile up. "I'm sure you will." He said before turning and walking back to the den.

"He seemed sort of stand off ish." Taj whispered to Amadi.

Amadi smiled. "I'm happy with it." He said with a laugh. "Trust me, that is the best greeting we could have gotten."

Amadi was satisfied with the greeting Simba had given them. Something had changed in Simba, Amadi could see that, but he could also see how unsure Simba was of him. And he was determined to change that.

…

It was the morning after Amadi had returned home and he was revisiting his favorite place at his favorite place in time. Laying at the peek of Pride Rock, he looked over the savanna as the sun rose. Sighing, he imagined himself as a cub, snuggled right up next to Sarabi. She would often walk up behind him and join him.

This morning, he heard footsteps, but it wasn't Sarabi. No, how could it be… She was dead. Still, he couldn't help but harbor some disappointment when he turned his head to see Ayo walking towards him rather than Sarabi. "Oh….Hi Ayo." He said softly before turning to look at the sunrise.

"Please, conceal your excitement. It's too much." Ayo said sarcastically, but chuckled at the end of the sentence to hint towards it being a joke. He walked up next to him and sat down, looking down at Amadi. "Hey… I just wanted to say that… That I'm sorry about what happened."

Amadi shrugged slightly. "It hurt at the time… But I got over it. I found someone better, someone who knows its not just a phase. Someone who loves me. Someone like me. SO don't worry about it." He said, smiling slightly as he thought about Taj.

The words hit Ayo the wrong way which brought forth and awkward silence. Ayo sighed slightly and lay next to Amadi. "It's not like I didn't care… I cared a lot." He said softly, in hushed tones.

"Please don't tell me that." Amadi said, looking at Ayo with a slight shake of his head. "I know that's not true…. You said so yourself. You grew out of it. Grew out of me. But, anyway, it doesn't matter now. You have Dalia…And I have Taj."

"Taj?... Where did you meet that guy anyway?" Ayo asked, looking over his shoulder as if he were worried Taj was standing right behind him. "I mean, he was a rogue right? Do you think a rogue, with no pride experience, can rule by your side?"

"Yeah, he's a rogue, so what?" Amadi asked, looking at Ayo suspiciously. He couldn't believe this. Was Ayo insulting Taj. "You have no right to pick on him. At least he's strong, and stands up for what be believes in. And at least he stands up for me. The same can't be said for you."

"Amadi, you really need to drop this thing. Even if it doesn't feel right, you need to find a lioness. How can you hope to keep your family line going? I had to make that difficult decision, and I did what was right for my family."

Amadi stood up, unable to believe what he was hearing. "What do you mean?" He asked, standing over Ayo. "Is that why you're with my sister?"

Silence came upon Ayo. Sighing, he stood up and looked down at Amadi. "Of course I care for Dalia. She's one of my best friends." He said with a smile. "But its not the same as what I felt, and still feel for you." Ayo scooted a bit closer to Amadi.

Amadi grew angry. It was not a relief to hear at all. "No! No no no no! Don't tell me that! Don't you dare tell me that! It's not fair! I only just got back and I'm trying to make things right. Trying to be the best I can be. Trying not to devide the pride." He shouted, snarling at Ayo. "It's not fair to me and it's defiantly not fair to Dalia!"

"What? You were mortified when you caught me with Dalia. Enraged, even!" Ayo said, shaking his head. "I felt guilty, you've had such a hard life and I made it worse. I had to speak my mind! I was afraid you hated me… I needed to explain myself."

"Well you didn't explain yourself! You are using my sister!" He yelled, advancing on Ayo. "She's my baby sister, I want to protect her! I want her to be happy! And it is not fair for her to be a pawn to your emotional stupidity!"

Ayo was stunned by how intimidating Amadi could be when he was angry. "Don't talk to me like that! I do love Dalia!"

"Well, you better love her! I'm going to pretend this conversation never happened." He said, his head low and threatening as he inched towards Ayo. "Because the next time you talk to me like this, the next time you attempt to flirt with me, I will tell Dalia. And then I will destroy you… Destroy you for toying with me, but most of all for screwing with Dalia's heart."

Ayo took a step back, backing down slightly. "But…But what about what we had? Does that mean nothing to you?"

Amadi chuckled. "Lets see, how did you put it? "_We were young, Ayo. Young and going through a stupid phase. It wasn't natural, and you knew that. It was just a small thing; we knew no one else… But now I know someone else. I know Taj, and I really like him. I've allowed myself to outgrow you…_" Just like you said you outgrew me." He said, remembering the conversation he had with Ayo after he attacked Dalia. And with that, Amadi skulked past Ayo. "This conversation never happened, remember?"

Ayo nodded, sighing as he watched Amadi walk off. All that had been accomplished was Ayo coming off as a jerk and getting schooled by Amadi. He let out a frustrated growl, turning away from Amadi. How could he let this happen? He was happy with Dalia, very happy. He loved her, and still did somewhere. But the moment that Amadi brought Taj home he had felt nothing but jealousy. He needed to put this behind him… But he couldn't.

**not the most exciting chapter, but hey, this is more of a grounding for future drama/excitment/other content.**


	12. Love, Life, and The Stars

It had been a busy few weeks for Amadi ever since he had returned to the Pride Lands. He was determined to live up to what he told his siblings, Taj, and Simba; he was determined to make a good king. His hunting had improved greatly with the help of Dalia; something that the lionesses respected and loved. Many kings didn't aid with the hunt, but if Amadi was willing to help it was more likely that a kill would be made. The more claws and teeth they had the better. Though Amadi was already skilled when it came to talking and capturing the hearts of the locals, Dumaka had been working with him daily, teaching him whatever he had to teach about leading a pride of lions and how to balance out the pride with the creatures in the kingdom. Fighting, on the other hand, was not going as well as Amadi had hoped.

Taj was the one who had decided to help Amadi with fighting. Ayo had offered to help, but Amadi had promptly refused; even though fighting with Ayo would have been easier than fighting with a tank of a lion like Taj. Taj tried to take it easy on Amadi, but defiantly pushed the smaller lion to his fullest. Amadi would come back home with sore muscles frequently and a great hunger. Though he was better at fighting than he use to be, he still wasn't sure he would be able to fight off a rival male if he were challenged.

Sighing, Amadi walked up to his brother during a break from his training session. "This is so hard. I feel like I work so hard every at this and I'm not getting any stronger." Amadi grumbled, flopping onto his side.

"I'm sure you'll get it. I mean, its not like you're against an easy opponent. Taj is huge." Dumaka said with a chuckle.

Dalia and Ayo had come over to watch. Dalia smiled. "Yea, I mean, Taj had to live on his own for so long. He bulked up so he could survive." She said with a smile.

Taj chuckled and walked up. "I've always been a big lion, even as a cub." He said, smiling at Amadi. "You may not be the strongest lion in the world, Amadi, but your fast as hell. Damn, it's hard to tell what side your coming from sometimes. Keeps me on edge."

"Yeah, until you catch on and knock me over." Amadi said with a laugh, licking Taj on the cheek softly. "I'm taking a rest, go pick on someone else."

Taj chuckled. "I don't think I should be picking fights with your pride." He said with a smirk, sitting down.

"Why not?" Dumaka asked with a laugh. "You'd probably keep us all on our toes. Just a little play wrestling to keep us strong."

"What am I, the prides personal trainer?" Taj asked with a laugh, shrugging slightly. "If you guys want to fight, bring it on. But I'm not gonna make it easy for ya. I hardly make it easy for Amadi."

"Yeah right, you don't make it easy at all." Amadi grumbled, laying on his stomach now. "But, go on Du, go for it. I'd like to see how well Taj would fair with a lion more or less his size."

Dumaka looked at the big lion, and then at Ayo. "I will if you will, Ayo." He said with a playful smirk.

Ayo grinned. "Alright, I bet I'll last longer than you."

Taj rolled his eyes slightly and stood up. "Great, I'm being used for gambling." He said with a smirk. He didn't mind though. As a cub, Taj always enjoyed play fighting. But as he grew, less lions were willing to play with him. He still enjoyed a good wrestle every now and then. "Alright, rules first. Let's keep this clean. No claws, and no teeth; sheathed paws and closed jaws. Also, you have to pin your opponent to the ground for three seconds."

"Alright. I guess I'll go first." Dumaka said, standing up and stepping away from the crowd to square off with Taj. He grinned at Taj and began to circle. "Don't kill me."

"I'll try my hardest." Taj said with a smirk, circling Dumaka. Taj was already looking for flaws in Dumaka's physical structure, studying every move Dumaka had with his strides to assess weak points.

Dumaka let out a playful growl, letting his head hang low in an aggressive stance. Dumaka expected that he would have to make the first move, but with one slightly mess up in his step, Taj had jumped towards him. When Dumaka had accidently messed up his step, it set him more off balance then he would have thought. Unable to muster up his complete strength, he leapt at Taj with less strength than he would have liked.

This resulted in Taj over powering him and pinning him quickly. But Dumaka wasn't going to loose so easily. Pressing his back paws against Taj's stomach he used Taj's momentum to flip him right off of him. Taj stumbled and landed on the ground. He quickly turned, and as Dumaka leapt at him he used a strong paw and arm to strike him to the ground.

Dumaka landed on the ground, only to have Taj on top of him, growling. He was pinned there for three seconds. Once three seconds was over, Taj's growl turned to a grin and he let Dumaka up. "Good job, Du." He said with a smile, nudging him playfully. "That flip thing you did really caught me off guard."

"Yeah, but I guess it wasn't enough. Good fight though." Dumaka said with a smile. He was out of breath, but his spirits were not dampened by the defeat. "Your up Ayo."

Ayo had been watching intently, studying Taj's technique. How quickly Dumaka was able to come down worried him and threatened him. This was meant to be a playful fight, but Ayo was out to prove himself. Taj was Amadi's replacement for him, and Taj was the perfect lion over all. Ayo wanted to be perfect, even if it wasn't to impress Amadi; though secretly it was.

Ayo stood up, and walked in a circle around Taj. Ayo watched as Taj's eyes studied him. He knew that he was looking for any possible weakness. Walking with strength and equal stride, Ayo concentrated on showing no weakness as his eyes locked on Taj. There were some things about Taj that he had noticed. He favored his right side, and he kept his tail out to remain balanced. He also acted purely on strength; maybe agility was the key.

Before Taj could make the first move Ayo darted, but not at directly at Taj, circling around his rear. As Taj reared on his hind legs to twist around, Ayo watched as more weight was put on his right leg. As he brushed behind him, he slammed his body into his right leg, sending Taj tumbling to the ground.

Ayo took this opportunity to leap onto Taj in an attempt to pin him down. Taj was thrown off by the fact that Ayo had taken him down so easily, but this is where his strength came into play. He twisted onto his back just as Ayo pounced him, pinning him beneath his back.

"Nice try kid, are you done?" Taj asked as Ayo struggled beneath him.

Letting out a growl of frustration, Ayo managed to wiggle out from under Taj and jump away. As Taj was rolling back and standing up, Ayo struck him hard on the face, making it harder for him to stand. He then quickly found himself on his back with Ayo upon him.

He felt paws striking at his face, and when he opened his eyes he saw Ayo upon him. Before his three seconds were up he pushed Ayo off of him with great force. He couldn't believe this lion, striking wasn't necessary when he had already managed to pin.

"What's wrong with you, I said a clean fight. What's up with the hitting?" Taj demanded, slightly out of breath.

"I'm not using my claws…" Ayo said in a smart-ass kind of way as he crouched low, ready to pounce. It was harder to take down Taj than he thought. Extreme measures were needed. He extended his claws and prepared to pounce.

Taj noticed the black slits coming from the others paws. This had gone far enough. As Ayo leapt at him, Taj struck him hard across the face then jumped on his back when he hit the ground. "One…Two…Three. Your cheep fight is up. I'm done." He grumbled, getting off of Ayo, walking away.

Ayo growled and got to his feet, shaking his head to make himself stop seeing spots. "What was that for? Really? The face?" Ayo demanded.

"Your just mad because I beat you with your own act." Taj mumbled as he walked right past the others to go back to Pride Rock.

Amadi watched Taj walk away, and then he turned to Ayo. "What was that? You didn't need to fight like that." Amadi snapped at Ayo as he approached them.

"What? He's a big lion. I had to give myself a chance!" Ayo said, making an excuse for why he was so rough with Taj.

"It was just play fighting, Ayo…You really didn't need to be so rough. He wasn't rough with Dumaka. Or with you, that is until you started to strike his face." Dalia said, looking at Ayo with slight shame.

"You're ok with him just pushing us around because he's bigger?" Ayo demanded, defending himself.

"It's not like that! He's a kind lion who wouldn't dream of hurting anyone in this pride." Amadi said in his mates defence.

"Yeah, man, this was just for fun… It wasn't to prove anything." Dumaka said, shaking his head. "Are you threatened by him, or something?"

Ayo stared at them all and then scowled at the ground. "No… No I'm not." He grumbled, walking away from them to be by himself.

Amadi sighed and looked at Dalia. "What's his problem? He got really rough with Taj." He asked Dalia in a slightly worried tone. "It's not like Taj was trying, or wanted to hurt him."

"I don't know, he's been acting really weird lately." Dalia said with a shrug.

"Taj is a big lion, I can understand being intimidated; but you'd think Taj has been here long enough to understand he doesn't want to hurt anyone." Dumaka said with a sigh.

Amadi remained quiet, he hadn't mentioned the argument he had with Ayo to anyone. Was this Ayo's way of acting out? Was this some act of jealousy? Amadi hoped not. He was trying his hardest not to be the cause of any negativity or drama in the pride.

"Well, I'm going to head back and make sure Taj is ok." Amadi said with a sigh, standing up. "Dalia, maybe you should talk to Ayo… If he is harboring any hard feelings towards Taj it needs to stop."

Dalia nodded. "I'll see you back at Pride Rock later on. I'll try to get to the bottom of this." Dalia said before running off after Ayo. Dumaka left to go home with Amadi.

…

Dalia found Ayo by the water-hole, laying at the edge of the water, staring into the water. Sighing, Dalia approached him, smiling slightly. "Hey there, handsome." She said softly as she came up behind him, lying next to him.

Ayo snapped out of his in thought trance and glanced at her. "Oh…Hey." He said with a slight sigh. "Did you come here to yell at me?"

Dalia shook her head but gave him a serious look. "No, I came to talk to you about it." She said in a serious tone as she focused her eyes on his. "Why did you fight like that? You were really quite brutal with Taj."

Ayo snorted slightly and looked away. "I doubt he felt it, he's a rock." He said with a fake laugh.

"That's not the point. I doubt you actually hurt him, but still, violence like that really isn't necessary." She made sure to speak in a very gentle tone as she spoke to Ayo. "I'm just curious as to why you acted that way. Do you have something against Taj?"

"No." He said very quickly, looking back at her. "I was just playing…"

"Are you sure? Because I don't think that you were playing. Dumaka was playing, Taj was playing, but you were fighting…" Sighing, she looked at the water. "I know that Taj is new to the pride, but so were you at one point, so I really don't think you should be judging him."

"That's not it." He said, letting it slip that there was indeed something that he held against Taj.

Dalia jumped right on this bit of information. "Then what is it?" She asked curiously, inching a little closer to him.

"It's nothing, ok? Just drop it. I'm sorry, I lost my temper… I'll apologize when we get back to Pride rock."

Dalia sighed and looked away from him. She was beginning to think about what it could possibly be. Hanging her head, she thought about it… Was it Amadi? That would make sense… Amadi use to be into Ayo, but now he had Taj. "Are you jealous of Taj?"

Ayo stared at her and then looked away. "Don't be ridiculous, why would I be jealous of Taj?"

"Well… I know you and Amadi had a thing… And if it weren't for my father you two would still be together… But now Amadi has Taj and I was just thinking that maybe…. I don't know…. You might still like Amadi." Dalia said in a very sad tone, hoping to the Gods that she was wrong.

"What?!" He demanded, standing up. "No! That's stupid. That was so long ago, Dalia. I'm with you know. I got over that, I grew out of it!"

She turned her head to look at him. "I'm not so sure… Amadi never grew out of it, Taj seems very secure in it too… Is it possible to grow out of?"

"Well, it must be, because I did!" He shouted. He let out a long sigh to try to calm himself down. "Look… I love you, Dalia. I couldn't possibly have eyes for anyone else… Especially Amadi."

Looking up at him with sad, and slightly rejected eyes she sighed. "Really?"

"Of course." He said with a smile, leaning down to lick her forehead softly. "I love you to death… I would do anything for you. I, I don't know… I just don't like Taj. Sometimes people can't help whom they don't like. I'll try my hardest to get along with him though. If it is important to you, I can try."

Dalia smiled and stood up, nuzzling Ayo. Her mind had been put to ease and she felt better. "I love you too, Ayo. I'm sorry I doubted you." She said softly, happy that she heard what she wanted to hear. "Alright, let's head back to Pride Rock. It's getting late and you owe someone an apology."

Ayo smiled to the best of his ability and nodded. "Alright. Let's head back."

…

Back at Pride Rock, Amadi had found Taj resting on the highest point of the rock, way above the den and the peek. "How did you find your way up here?" Amadi asked with a smile as he came up behind Taj.

Taj jumped slightly; he had been trapped in his own mind and was startled to see Amadi. "Oh… Well, King Simba brought me up here the other day." He said with a smile. "He said that every future king in the history of Pride Rock had a talk with the present king at the top of Pride Rock; and that I deserved the same privilege."

Amadi looked pleasantly surprised. "Really?" He asked with a huge grin as he lay next to Taj, letting his paws lay off the edge. "What did he say?"

"A lot of things. About how this was a big responsibility, about how everything the light touches is ours, and that we must respect everything… He was surprisingly kind and insightful." Taj said with a smile, looking out over the Pride Lands. "He also said that he was quite proud of you, that you have shown a great amount of growth in the past few weeks."

Amadi smiled but couldn't help but sigh. He followed Taj's gaze out over the land. "I wish he would tell that to me." He said with a sad smile.

"I think he will… I just think he's too ashamed to talk to you. He said he made a lot of bad mistakes with you…" Taj said, looking at Amadi with a smile. "I don't think you should worry too much."

Amadi smiled and shook his head. "Alright, but anyway, that's not what I wanted to talk to you about." Amadi said with a chuckle. "Are you ok?"

Taj looked at him with a puzzled look. "Oh, you mean with the whole Ayo thing?" He asked with a smirk. "Yeah, I'm fine. He didn't hurt me or anything, just pissed me off a little."

"Yeah… I'm sorry about that… He's been very weird lately…" He said with a slight sigh.

"Yeah, I can tell. You talked about him a lot when you first started to visit me." He said with slight sigh. "It seems like the jealousy has turned around. First it was with you directed to Dalia, but now its hit Ayo."

"I Really don't think he's jealous… I mean, I don't want him to be. That's not fair." Amadi said with a sigh. He knew that Ayo was jealous, he was still furious with Ayo for confronting him earlier on.

"Amadi, its not hard to see. He is defiantly annoyed." Taj said with a sigh. "What happened between you? And I mean recently? You've been avoiding him like the plague."

Amadi sighed and looked away from him. "I just wanted to forget about the conversation…Ayo confronted me shortly after I returned…" He said, slowly getting more into the story. Finishing up, he turned to look at Taj. "So I told him to leave me alone, and that if this came up again that I would tell Dalia and… And hurt him."

Taj sighed slightly. "Let's not hurt anyone, ok?" He said in a soft, but obviously annoyed tone. "I just find it really strange. He left you for your sister, and now that your happy he's jealous. Doesn't he want you to be happy?"

Amadi let Taj's words sink in. Sighing, he looked away from Taj, down at the peek of Pride Rock. "Good question…" Amadi mumbled, letting his head rest on the ledge of Pride Rock. "I'm just trying to avoid drama at all cost. I really want to turn things around and prove to people that I can be king and lead people accordingly. But its ok, Ayo is going to have to leave soon. I would like things to be ok with us before he leaves, but I guess I can only hope."

Taj smiled, wanting to bring some positive energy back into Amadi's gentle heart. "I'm sure things will work themselves out." He said with a grin.

Amadi looked into his mates eyes and smiled, rolling onto his stomach to be closer to Taj. "Of you say they will, then they must." He said with a smile. "I love you…"

Smiling, Taj leaned down to give his lover a loving lick on the nose. "I love you too, Amadi."

…

As time passed things seemed to work themselves out between the younger lions. Ayo never actually apologized to Taj, but whenever someone asked Taj if he did he always said that he did. Taj never expected an apology, but he didn't want to create any more drama for Amadi; so he lied.

Ayo appreciated this slightly, but never made eye contact with Taj after the day of the fight. He also avoided Amadi; both Amadi and Taj were happy about this.

Life for the elders of the Pride was becoming more stressed, however, as Simba's age began to show. Kovu, Kiara, and Nala were preparing themselves for the death of their king; it was horrible to think about but they knew it was coming. Simba had started talking to Kovu more about the kingdom, making sure that he didn't forget any information or tips that could be useful to Kovu.

Rifiki was coming more often, checking up on the king. Kiara had requested it; she found it odd that her father was growing more and more weak while her mother, though old, remained healthy. Rifiki's diagnosis was grim; he didn't think Simba had much longer to live.

The pride members had been told not to speak about the illness to the children, but Kiara and Kovu had addressed their children about Simba's age; hoping to prepare them for what may come. Unfortunatly, what may have come later came much earlier than thought.

It was a chilly night; Rifiki had been called after Nala reported that Simba was unable to stand. Setting up a small fire in the den so that he could have appropriate life, Rifiki looked over Simba. Sighing, he turned to Nala. "I think tonight may be the night." He said softly.

Nala looked heart broken, but nodded silently. Simba had lead a long and stressful life, and now it was his time to rise to his place in the stars next to his father and mother.

Coughing, Simba looked up at Nala with weak eyes. "Please I need to speak to Kovu and Kiara." He said softly, smiling up at her. "Oh…And send Amadi in as well, please… I need to say something to him."

Nala would walk out to the peek of Pride Rock where the rest of the pride sat; waiting to hear news of their king. "Kovu, Kiara, and Amadi; Simba would like to talk to you." She said softly, grief obvious in her eyes.

It wasn't hard for Kiara to read her mother's expressions. "Daddy…" She murmured before running off into the den. Kovu and Amadi followed at a rushed walk, walking in to find Kiara nuzzling her father, crying.

"Kovu, Kiara… I'm afraid that my time has come." Simba said with a smile, using as much energy as he had to speak. "Kiara, I love you so much, I hope you now that… You have picked an excellent king, and I know you will always be happy with him… And thank you for teaching me lessons that even my father was unable to teach me."

Kiara smiled sadly and nuzzled her father. "I love you too, Daddy." She said, her voice trembling with grief.

Simba then looked to Kovu. "Kovu, it is time for you to take your place as king. And I am proud to say that there is no one I would rather hand the Pride Lands over to than you. I'm sorry it took me so long, in the past, to realize what a great lion you were. You taught me to leave the pass to the grass and move on. Thank you. You will make a great king and I am proud to call you my son."

Kovu smiled, controlling his grief with a smile. "Thank you Simba, I wont dissapoint you." He said briefly; he knew that words were not needed as Simba offered him a trust-worthy wink.

Last, but not least, Simba turned to Amadi. Struggling, Simba rose his head to speak to the young lion. "Amadi, come closer please." He said softly, offering a smile to make the young lion more comfortable.

Amadi went right up to Simba, a little tense, and a little sad, but happy that he was asked to come closer to the lion who had rejected him for so long. "I'm here, Grandpa."

"I have mad a lot of mistakes with you Amadi… You were a strange cub, and I was unable to see that sometimes strange things can be good things." He said, looking into Amadi's eyes. "I didn't understand you, and many lions fear what they do not understand. As king I should have been able to look past that, but I let my personal fears get the best of me; and for that I am very sorry. I was too caught up in my worries to give you the attention you deserved as my grandson… I really messed up…"

Amadi began to tear up, sniffling as he tried to talk. "Its ok grandpa…"

"Please, let me finish." Simba said with a comforting smile. "You are different Amadi; you like lions, your not very strong, and your not like most lions. But you have always been able to see the best in everything and everyone, you have a very gentle heart and a wise soul. Though I never understood your attraction to other lions, you have picked a wonderful mate, and I have full faith that you and Taj will rule this kingdom, someday, with wisdom and fair hearts… I am very proud of you, Amadi… And I love you very much."

That did it for Amadi, tears started to stream down his orange fur. "I love you to, Grandpa…" He sobbed, nuzzling Simba's forhead lovingly and respectfully.

"Now now, chin up, no more tears. Go join your siblings…" He said with a smile, before looking to Kovu and Kiara. "Kovu, would you go get Nala for me. I would like to spend time with my queen and daughter, if you don't mind."

Kovu nodded and stepped forward; he understood that Simba would want to spend his last hours with his family. "Good bye, Simba." Kovu said, placing a paw on Simba's paw. He then turned, left with Amadi, and sent Nala in to be with Kiara and Simba.

…

Simba died very early the next morning. The pride, the kingdom, and the sky, with its rain, came to morn the loss of their king. Simba's body was moved from the den, and placed in the grass of the Pride Lands, so that it may become one with the earth while his soul became one with the stars.

The pride stayed close to Kiara and Nala, comforting them in their time of need. The younger lions were outside, sitting in the rain as they looked over the land. Ayo lay with Dalia, licking her and comforting her in the rain. Of all the cubs, Dalia was the closest to her Grandfather. Dumaka was sitting with Taj; Taj never really knew Simba and Dumaka had left the Pride Lands too long to feel the same sadness the others felt.

Despite his obvious sadness for the loss of Simba, Amadi couldn't help but feel a sense of happiness. He had heard what he had been longing to hear; that Simba was proud of him. As he sat at the peek of Pride Rock he felt more determined than ever to be the best that all he could be. Looking up at the sky he looked forward to the night; he would search the sky he had softened studied in his thoughts for the new star, the new star that represented the lion that made him feel this drive to succeed, the star that finally loved him… Simba's star.


	13. Tension

The day of Simba's death had ended, the sun had set on his time as king, and now, in the light of the new morning, the sun was rising to greet a new king. Today was the day that Kovu, with Kiara at his side as queen, took his place as King of the Pride Lands. It had been a beautiful day; the rain from the night before left with the tears of the pride and everyone was looking towards their new king. The animals of the Pride Lands gathered below the rock, and the lionesses watched in awe as Kovu walked up to the peek of Pride Rock.

Watching in amazement and slight nervousness, Amadi listened to the sound of his fathers roar as the lion raised his head to roar. It was a loud, proud, yet respectful roar; and as he finished all the animals of the pride lands reacted with their own noises to greet in the new king. Amadi, along with the other lions of the pride, rose their heads to roar in acceptance of their new king. Amadi's roar was quiet, but that didn't mean he didn't accept his father as king. No, he had things on his mind. Watching his father take the thrown reminded him that one day it would be him walking up that rock and roaring to the kingdom.

Letting out a slight sigh when he finished his roar he looked towards all the animals who were there, putting their faith and trust into Kovu. Trusting, without even knowing, that he would never lead them astray. He hoped that he would, one day, deserve that same trust.

Taj was sitting next to him and had picked up on Amadi's discomfort. Nudging Amadi Taj smiled. "Hey, don't look so mopey all the time; it's your fathers big day. At least try to look enthused." Taj said with a slight chuckle.

But the joke fell on humorless ears. "It's not like I'm upset with Daddy or anything, I'm very happy for him and I'm not trying to be upset." He said with a sigh, watching as his father walked down the rock. "It just makes me nervous. One generation closer to me being king. Just worries me."

"Well, don't let that bother you right now. As you said, you still have a generation to go through." Taj said with a slight smirk, licking Amadi tenderly on the cheek.

"Yes….I know you're right. I'm just being silly." He said, looking at him with a smile. "I shouldn't be letting my personal concerns ruin my fathers big day."

Taj shrugged. "I wouldn't say your being silly. I mean, being king, I imagine, is very hard. There are a lot of responsibilities. But hey, you still have a while and you have a lot of friends who will be here to help you." He said with a smile. "I'll be here to help you to."

Amadi nodded and smiled at him. Some of what Taj said was true, others were not. Dalia would most likely be leaving with Ayo, and Dumaka would be leaving to rule over his own pride… Yes, he had Taj there to help. But in all honesty, though he loved Taj dearly, Taj had no experience as a leader. But then again, who was Amadi to judge; he was anything but king material.

Letting out a sigh he stood up and began to walk away from Pride Rock ."I'm going for a walk, just to clear my head. I'll be back soon, ok?" He said to Taj with a smile before hopping off into the tall grass. He really needed some time to clear his mind of all this King stuff.

Once out in the Pride Lands, he walked to the river and decided to the rest. Laying in the grass a good two feet away from the water to stay safe from crocodiles, he began to calm down a bit. He always managed to calm down when he was alone. Perhaps it was because he was alone so often as a cub, it became a comforting thing. Sadly, the comfort was destroyed by someone else walking up behind him.

"What are you doing all the way out here?" The voice of Ayo asked as he approached Amadi with a quirked eye brow.

Amadi still wasn't comfortable around Ayo, so he stood up, turned around and faced him with a suspicious look. "I could ask the same of you… I didn't see you at Daddy's presentation…"

"Yea…Well… I'm not really apart of the pride, so I felt kinda weird being there. It just didn't feel right." He said, sitting down a foot or so away from Amadi. "Made me a little stressed."

Amadi let out a sigh and went back to laying down. "Yeah… tell me about it." He mumbled, resting his head on his paws. "just makes me really stressed out about being king… I'm sure you understand that stress, you're going to be king of your own pride."

"Tell me about it. Makes my stomach sick sometimes. But I suppose I'll have Dalia to help me out. She's really strong and has really good leadership qualities." He said with a slight smile.

"Yeah, and I have Taj… He makes me so happy and keeps me strong when I feel like I might get struck down." He said with a smile.

"Yeah… About that…" Ayo said, looking away from Amadi to dodge the defensive look Amadi was giving him. "How are you guys going to continue the circle of life?"

Amadi gave him a suspicious look. "What do you mean?"

"Well, your going to be king. Not only is it your job to rule, but to make sure there is someone next in line to pick up when your gone." Ayo said, shifting slightly, trying to talk in the nicest voice possible. He didn't know what it was, but he was getting some sort of gratification out of it; he really didn't like Taj. And he would find any excuse to get Amadi away from him.

Amadi just stared at him, his ears slightly back. "I'm… I'm not following you?" He said, though he really did understand.

"Cubs, Amadi." Ayo said, in a bit more of a firm fashion. "How will you have cubs? A king needs to be able to have cubs so they can take over after him. You and Taj can't have cubs… The circle of life will end."

Amadi stared at him, went to open his mouth in protest to Ayo's words, then closed it; looking away. Ayo was right. "Well… I don't know… Maybe we could let one of the other lionesses cubs…"

"But it will be the end to your family chain. There has been a specific blood line in charge of the thrown for soooo long. Are you willing to just throw that all away?" Ayo asked him with a serious look.

This was when Amadi got defensive. "I don't need to listen to this!" He yelled, getting to his feet. "You are always telling me reasons to ditch Taj… Well, he's not going anywhere, so get over it."

Ayo was startled that Amadi picked up on it, but Amadi was clever, so he pretended that he didn't know what Amadi was talking about. "I'm just trying to help. I have nothing against Taj. I did at first, but I'm over it."

Amadi growled slightly and turned away from him. "Yeah right… I can't believe I considered you a friend…"

Ayo gave him a hurt expression and walked up along the side of him, nudging him slightly with his nose. "Oh, C'mon. I didn't mean to upset you. Really, I'm just trying to help. Everyone else is able to help you in some way; hunting, diplomacy, fighting… I don't have a way to help you. So I just want to give advice."

Amadi grunted and refused to look at him. Ayo's nudge turned more into a nuzzle to the face as he walked in front of Amadi. "I am your friend, I want to be close to you." He said with a sigh. "I'm going to be leaving soon and I want to make sure thay were ok."

Amadi softened slightly and looked at him. "Alright… I guess. I'm sorry I got angry with you. I'm just a little stressed, I guess." He said with a sigh, completely unaware how jealous Ayo really was. "I mean, we were really close friends before… There's no reason we should destroy that."

Ayo grinned and gave a nod. "Exactly!" He said with a chuckle, playfully swatting at him. "Now, c'mon. I'll race you back to Pride Rock! Just like old times!"

Amadi sat there with playfully unhappy eyes. "I don't know…..I guess---I GET A HEAD START!" He yelled before bolting in the direction of Pride Rock.

Ayo smirked and let Amadi run off. He paused for a moment, thinking. It really wasn't that he wanted Amadi to ditch Taj and be unhappy, but he really hated Taj. Letting out a sigh and took off running after Amadi.

…

Taj was waiting for Amadi, laying on Pride Rock. It had been a while and he was a little concerned. But he smiled, and his heart was calmed when he saw Amadi running towards Pride Rock; and smiling of all things. Taj frowned slightly when he saw Ayo following, but decided not to make a big deal out of it… It looked like they were just racing, and that's what Taj decided to perceive it as.

Amadi panted and came to a stop. "I win!" He yelled, hopping happily, sticking his tongue out at Ayo.

Ayo smirked and came to a stop. "That's only because I let you win!" He said, laughing before pouncing Amadi; pinning him. "I'll beat you next time!"

Taj growled slightly when he saw Ayo pounce Amadi, and became very tense when he heard Amadi laugh about it. Was Amadi really that stupid? Taj could tell what Ayo was doing, and it was upsetting him. Taj stood and decided to walk to meet them. "Well you two look like your having fun." He announded to them.

Amadi twisted and smiled at him. "Hi Taj!" He said with a smirk before pushing Ayo off of him and hopping over to Taj. "I feel better now!"

Taj rose his eye brows and looked at Ayo. "I can see that…" He mumbled slightly before looking back at Amadi before smiling to the best of his ability. "Ayo cheer you up?"

"Yeah, we talked a little then raced back." He said with a nod, picking up on Taj's tense state. "Are you ok?"

Taj looked at Ayo with irritated eyes. Ayo shrunk back a few steps before lowering his head and walking around them to go into Pride Rock. "Yeah, I'm fine." He said with a grin before licking Amadi affectionately in front of Ayo; an act of dominance.

Ayo cringed slightly and looked away; the hackles on his shoulders rising as he climbed up Pride Rock and into the den. How dare Taj just flaunt Amadi in his face?

Once Ayo was in the den Taj turned to Amadi. "I'm not comfortable with you being around that lion…" he said very seriously. "I don't feel right about him, he's all over you all the time, staring at you whenever your with me… Not to mention the death glares he gives me."

Amadi's ears drooped slightly. "No, Taj… It's fine. I talked to him about that. He's says were ok." He said, shaking his head slightly. "Seriously, Taj. He's just a friend. He's with my sister. He chose her."

"From what you told me way back, the only reason he ended up with her was because he couldn't be with you. And now that your father seems ok with your attraction to other males Ayo has been all over you." He said gruffly, shaking his head slightly. "Why can't you see that?"

"Taj, your just being paranoid. He's with Dalia. He loves her… He wouldn't use her for anything." He said, his eye brows furrowing in irritation. "I trust him."

"Well… You shouldn't… He's using your sister and trying to chase me off." He muttered, turning away from Amadi out of frustration. "I'll keep it cool for now, but if he ever does anything to you I don't like I'm chucking him off Pride Rock. And with that, Taj walked off to go into the den.

Amadi, who had been feeling pretty happy after his race with Ayo, now feel bad again. He really didn't know how to react to this. The wise part of him told him that Taj was right. The other part, the cub in him, was telling him to see the good in everyone. Everyone had to have some good; that was what he believed at least. With a sigh he started up Pride Rock and went into the den to get some sleep.

…

Ayo was a tricky lion, driven by his want for Amadi and darkened by his jealous hate of Taj. He knew how to manipulate… He know how to seem inviting to Amadi so that Amadi discredited any negativity Taj showed towards him. He had spent a lot more time with Ayo after their talk. It wasn't like he was spending less time with Taj or his siblings, but he was finally willing to forgive Ayo for hurting him so long ago and he wanted to be his friend.

It drove Taj insane… The friendlier Amadi got with Ayo, the more negativity Ayo showed towards him. He had tried to explain this to Amadi, but Amadi refused to believe it. He started to question Amadi's wisdom. One night, he had finally had enough…

It started in the evening, the pride had gathered in the den to settle down and get ready for sleep. The cubs, more night owls then not, had stayed out a bit longer; exploring the nightlife of the Savanna. Eventually, Dalia and Dumaka got tired and decided to walk back. Taj insisted that Ayo and Amadi go home with him. They did, but when they got back to Pride Rock Amadi decided to stay out a bit longer with Amadi and look at the stars. They both offered for Taj to join them, but Taj really couldn't spend more than a half hour with Ayo before getting really annoyed with him. So Taj left and walked inside the den… Well, sort of. He placed himself right behind the opening of the den, lying in the slight light of the moon. He felt bad for spying, but he just had a funny feeling about the night.

"Great night, eh?" Ayo asked Amadi, laying down next to him, rolling onto his back as well, as they stared up at the stars.

"Beautiful. The rains are coming soon: you can sense it in the wind. It's a nice cool evening." Amadi said with a smile, looking up at the stars. "Best get a good look at the stars before they are covered in storm clouds."

Ayo chuckled slightly and looked at him. "Your really fond of the stars, aren't you?" He asked with a slight smirk. "You even liked to look at them when we were cubs."

"Yeah, well.. They are beautiful. And it gives me comfort knowing that Grandpa and Nana are watching over me…" He said with a slightly saddened smile. "I miss my Nana…"

"I know you do. You were a mess the day she passed. Had to lick the tears off your face to prevent you from drowning in them." Ayo said with a playful smile, trying to keep the mood positive.

Amadi chuckled, much to Ayo's relief, and looked at him. "Yeah you did…" He smirked and looked back up at the stars. "I was such an awkward cub…"

"Yeah, you were. But I still liked you." Ayo said with a smirk, rolling onto his stomach to look down at Amadi. "You were something special, Amadi…. And you still are…"

Amadi looked at him with a quirk of his brow. "look at you getting all mushy on me." He said with a laugh, playfully swatting at him.

Ayo gave him a serious look then sat up, putting on paw over Amadi. "I'm not joking around here, Amadi…" He said softly, looking down on him with serious eyes. "You are a very special lion… And I miss you."

Amadi froze slightly, growing very tense as he felt Ayo's eyes on his own. "I… I don't know what to say,…" he murmured, shaking his head and rolling over so he could stand up.

Ayo remained where he was, not really allowing Amadi to stand up. "Your not listening to me. I was an idiot to let your father push us around. We should have seen each other anyway. I shouldn't have let that happen, I should be with you, not Taj. And you should be with me, not Dalia." He said desperately, nuzzling the back of Amadi's head.

Amadi shook his head, his ears pinning back angrily. "Ayo, stop it… Those days are over! I told you this earlier in the months when I came back. You weren't suppose to bring this up ever again, remember?!" He demanded, slipping away from him. "Our friendship nearly ended because of that fight!"

"I can't let you just say that. I know you still like me. You wouldn't spend so much time with me if you didn't." He said, not allowing Amadi to walk past him. He stepped forward and nuzzled up against him again, not giving him much space to pass him.

"Shut up, Ayo! Just shut up and leave me alone! Your acting crazy, crazy and stupid!" He yelled, swatting at Ayo angrily to keep him away. "Stop, your suppose to be my friend! But now your just scaring me…"

And with that, Taj came barreling out of the den, teeth bared angrily as he let out a roar. He quickly gripped Ayo by his mane and twisted him away from Amadi. Swiftly, Taj put himself between Ayo and Amadi. "Don't you touch him!" He growled angrily.

Ayo recovered and glared at Taj, putting on an aggressive stance. "Don't tell me what to do! Your so damn controlling, you stupid rogue…" He growled in return, ready to defend himself and prove himself. "You should learn some pride foundations and get some manners!"

"Manners!? You're the one rubbing all up on Amadi when, clearly, he doesn't want it!" Taj snarled. "And don't just shoot off random insults at me in an attempt to defend yourself!"

"Taj… please… Lets just go inside." Amadi said, hiding behind his mate.

"No! No I'm sick of this… I warned you, Amadi!" He growled angrily. "I told you he would pull some stupid stunt like this. If I hadn't been here, who knows what he might have done…"

"I was just being friendly, you don't even deserve him. You rogues are all alike, brutish and selfish. He deserves so much better than you!" Ayo growled angrily.

The two would shout back and forward at one another, tempers rose and blood pressure was reaching a breaking point. The pride had come out to find out what the commotion was and try to stop it. The two males were not interested in listening to anyone else. The Pride stopped and stared as the two lions began to circle one another… no one knew what to expect…

**Alright, another voting chapter. I'm really stuck here, guys, which is why I have not updated in a while. Sorry! I've really hit a hard point, writers block. I usually, by now, know what im going to do, know how im going to end it. But I need to work things out. So this was another over dramatic filler chapter. But to make up for the fail of this chapter, I'm going to let you have some say in the next one.**

**Think wisely and type…**

**"Fight 1" if you want Ayo and Taj to fight. Taj wins**

**"fight 2" if you want Ayo and Taj to fight. Ayo wins**

**"break" Amadi gets involved**


	14. The Break, and the Decision

Fight 1: 5

Fight 2: 0

Break: 8

Wow, it was reasonably close this time. Haha. Fun stuff. Well, you guys chose break! Amadi steps in. Decision is final.

"Stop it!" Kovu yelled, stepping forward in an attempt to break up the fight that was about to unfold.

The two lions didn't pay attention to Kovu. It wasn't that thay were trying to disobay their king, they just were too angry at one another to hear him. Taj tensed his body and way about to leap at Ayo. Ayo sensed this and did the same thing; readying himself for Taj's first move.

Amadi couldn't believe this was happening. As Taj stepped forward, away from Amadi, he was able to slip past his angry mate to yell at them. "Stop it! Please!" he yelled, his ears back as he thought of what he could possibly do to make this stop. "Taj!"

Taj slightly snapped out of it, breaking from his eye-locking trance with Ayo to glance at Amadi. This was enough for Ayo. Ayo leapt into the air; teeth and claws clamping onto Taj. Taj let out a pain-stricken roar before beginning to swat angrily at Ayo to try to get him off.

"Ayo!" Amadi growled, running up to the two lion were stood up on their hind legs; Ayo clamped dangerously onto Taj's throat. "Ayo, stop!" he growled, beginning to swat and claw at Ayo.

Ayo's automatic reaction was to turn quickly and swat whatever was attacking him away. Unfortunately, from his anger, he hit very hard, and he realized too late that he had struck Amadi. This sent Amadi sprawling a few feet away, but defiantly stopped the fighting.

Taj gasped when he felt his neck released, and then stared wide eyed as he watched Ayo strike Amadi. Ayo was obviously stunned by what he did, standing there frozen. Kovu and Kiara darted to where Amadi was as he struggled to get to his feet.

"Amadi, are you alright?" Kaira asked, nuzzling her son to help him get to his feet.

Amadi shook his head to try to get to his senses. It had happened so fast that he really didn't know what knocked him down in the first place. As he came to his senses, he looked at Ayo as Taj came running up to him. Kovu cut Taj off and shook his head.

"Let him come to his senses… he was hit pretty hard." He said with a sigh, biting his lip slightly. He was trying his best to control his anger; not wanting to make a scene in front of the lionesses or Amadi. "Besides, I would like to talk to you and Ayo…"

Taj wanted to protest and stay with Amadi who looked pretty shaken. But he nodded to Kovu and walked into the den. Kovu then looked to Ayo. "Ayo, come with Taj and I please…" he said firmly, glaring at the lion who struck his son.

Ayo nodded and walked past Amadi who was just staring at him. He stopped at Amadi, looking at him with sad eyes. "Amadi…I…I am so sorry…" he stammered, ears low in submission.

Amadi stared at him then looked away; his ears were still ringing from the blow to his head. "Don't talk to me." He said in a bitter tone.

Ayo's ears drooped, but he nodded, and followed Kovu into the den. Ayo avoided the shocked and horrified looks from Dalia as he walked past. Darting to her brother, Dalia looked at the bits of fur missing where claws had grazed him. "What happened?!" She demanded, licking her brother's scrapes. "Why were they fighting?"

Amadi shook his head and looked down at the ground. "I don't want to talk about it right now." He mumbled slightly, avoiding her eye contact. He was angry, angry at Ayo, angry at Taj for being so defensive, and angry at himself for allowing this to happen.

Dalia didn't understand, but the look her mother gave her was enough to tell her to not press the issue.

…

In the den, Kovu was having a very firm word with the two males. "Now I don't know what brought on this fight, but I never want it to happen again!" He said, snarling slightly as he looked at them.

"Not to offend, Sir, but I was just defending Amadi." Taj said, his head hung humbly as he talked; shooting a quick glare at Ayo.

This got Kovu's attention. His head turned sharply to look at Ayo. "Protect Amadi from what?" He asked firmly, looking at Taj slightly before going back to the firm look at Ayo.

Ayo shook his head slightly, not wanting Taj to answer for him. "I guess it would be because…because I'm jealous." Taj mumbled, looking away from Kovu. "No offense, Sir… but you never let us be… and then when Taj comes around you were ok with it. I was upset. I want what Taj has… "

"You struck my son in your blind, jealous rage… You are with my daughter when you really don't want to be with her… I don't know what to do or what to say. You were always so trustworthy; or so I thought." Kovu said, shaking his head. "And Taj… You really need to learn to control that temper… I had temper issues before… With Amadi. I denied him a lot of things as a cub. Angry does nothing good. Pick your fights wisely. I'm glad you decided to defend my son, but a fight was not necessary… If you two hadn't fought you might have been able to work things out in a better way and my son might not have gotten hurt trying to stop you."

Both lions hung their heads low in shame, but there was still obvious tension. "I don't want this to happen again. Taj, I expect better from a future king of The Pride Lands. And Ayo…. Stay away from Amadi…. Because, though I am upset with Taj for fighting, if your pestering of Amadi becomes a regular thing I wont blame him. I do want to protect my children." He said, turning to leave. "And you'd better work out things with Dalia… Don't drag my daughter through your emotional confusion…"

And with that Kovu left, leaving the two lions together. Taj spoke first. "I will respect The Kings wishes and stay away from you. I will not prevent you from talking, I will try not to be so jealous, but I swear to the stars, if you pull another stunt like this not even a pride of lions could keep me off of you."

Ayo nodded, not looking at him. "I wont do it again… I'm sorry. I am just so angry… All the time. First it was jealousy… but not now. I've heard horror stories of Scar… I don't want to be that type of lion." He said with a sigh. "I hurt Amadi, and I'm hurting Dalia… I think it would be best if I left."

Taj said nothing. He wasn't going to lie and tell Ayo that he didn't want him to leave. He wanted him to leave so badly, and not just for personal reasons, but because Ayo was starting to be a real problem. "You should do what is right." Was all that Taj said before standing and walking out of the den to find Amadi.

Amadi was no longer at Pride Rock. Taj asked Kiara, and she said he wanted to go for a walk. Taj was pretty sure he knew where to find him, Amadi had a few favorite places in the Pride Lands, but which one he went to was dependant on his mood. Anger, sadness, confusion; Taj knew where to look.

…

Laying a few feet from the river was Amadi, head low against his paws as he sat in lay in the tall grass. He heard Taj approach him but said nothing.

"I knew I would find you here. You always come to the river when something troubles you." Taj said with a smile. But the smile faded when Amadi didn't answer. Rather than jumping right into the conversation about Ayo he brought something else up. "Why here? Why the river?"

Amadi sighed and looked at Taj. "When I was a cub I watched a herd of zebra get slaughtered by the crocodiles in this river… It disturbed me greatly back then, I never went near the river until a few months ago." Amadi explained with a sigh. "But now I come here when I need to realize how fragile things in life are…"

"Interesting… So, you feel that life is fragile right now?" Taj asked carefully, laying down next to him as he sighed.

"Well, ya… I'm not too upset that he hit me… I mean, were all lions, I can take it. what really bothered me what that he didn't know it was me… He was just so angry that he did it without even thinking about it." Amadi said with a long sigh, leaning up against Taj. "Mum says I should have let Daddy take care of it… But he had your throat… I couldn't let him just…you know…. And he wasn't stopping."

Taj's eye brows rose slightly, but he gave a soft smile and licked Amadi's face. "Thank you for the help, Amadi." He said with a smile. "That was very brave."

The compliment made Amadi perk up. "Ya, you know.. I don't think I've ever jumped into a fight willingly before." He said, managing a laugh.

"Yeah, look who's acting like a lion." He said with a proud smile, happy he was able to put a positive spin on the disastrous night. "Good job."

"Yea, maybe it wont be so easy to knock me down next time." Amadi said, laughing as he held his head up high.

Taj chuckled and pounced Amadi gently, just so he was half over Amadi, laying upon his chest carefully. "Hopefully there won't be a next time." He said with a chuckle. "I'm sorry I got so jealous. I should let you fight your own battles; you're not a cub anymore and your going to be king someday. But I had to stop him."

"I'm glad you did… I didn't want to hurt Ayo." He said with a playful chuckle. "I'd rather let you do it… I just got really angry when he pulled that cheep move."

Taj smiled and nodded slightly. "Well, it's over now. Let's try to start new, huh? A king can't hold a grudge, right?" Taj said with a smile. "I mean… Simba learnt that, right? When he let your dad into the pride."

Amadi nodded and happily snuggled with his head against Taj. "Alright." He said with a smile, yawning. "Lets stay here tonight… I can't remember the last time we slept outside of that den."

Taj nodded and licked his face softly. "Alright… Just like old times." He said with a laugh. He rolled onto his back so that Amadi could lie over his stomach. Then with a few gentle words, the two lions fell asleep.

…

Back at Pride Rock, Ayo had not gone bak inside the den since he left with Taj. He was sitting on the highest point of Pride Rock; looking over the dark blue horizon. He didn't know what to do… There were things that needed to happen, things that he was messing up. Amadi would be king, and he had the right to choose Taj over him. Besides, Ayo had his own pride to lead… And what about his family. Sighing, he made up his mind.

Walking into the den he sought out his mother and nuzzled her. She woke and gave him a bit of a look. She was disappointed with her son, but wasn't one to ignore the distressed look on her sons face. "What is it, darling?" She asked gently, yawning.

"I…I think it's time we returned home, mother." He said with a sad smile. "We've overstayed our welcome… and... And I don't want to cause anymore trouble. Besides, I think I'm ready to be King. I wasn't before, but now I am."

His mother nodded, seeming to understand her sons nervous jabbering. "Alright… Well… Will Dalia be coming with us, dear?" She asked very cautiously.

Ayo was silent for a moment but shook his head. "I'm done hurting her, mother." He murmured softly, hanging his head low. "I can't give her the love she wants… It's not fair for her. I can't expect her to be my queen."

Smiling, she stood up and licked her son's face. "That is probably a wise choice, Ayo." She said softly. "When should we leave."

"Now, if you don't mind gathering the lionesses… " Ayo said softly. "I don't want to deal with goodbyes. I would just like to leave."

"You are doing this so you don't have to say goodbye to Dalia, aren't you?" She asked with a bit of a disappointed look. "Now, my son… That is not very wise…."

"Mother please… I just want to go home." He said softly, looking away from his mother with ashamed eyes.

"Alright, Ayo. I will gather the lionesses…" Her mother said, walking through the den to wake up her pride. Slowly, they were all gathered and moved out of the den. Curious whispers were traveling through out the small group of lionesses. "We are going home, ladies… Tonight."

They all looked from her to Ayo. "Your leaving?" Asked a voice that came out from inside the den. It was Kovu, stepping forward to look at the lionesses to Ayo. "You still have another month until adult hood. Are you sure you want to leave so soon…and without saying goodbye?"

Ayo looked at Kovu with ashamed eyes. "I'm sorry, sir… But I don't think I belong here anymore…." He said softly, shaking his head slightly. "All I've caused is trouble in the past few months… And I want to make things right."

"What about my daughter?" Kovu asked, looking at him with disappointed eyes. "What should I tell her… She still doesn't know why you fought with Taj."

"I think it's best that I don't say goodbye to her." He said softly. "I will just make lies… Tell her that if she wants to know what happened that she should ask Amadi… I think he could give the best description of all this madness."

Kovu nodded and sighed slightly. "I can't say I respect your decision, but I understand why your doing it…" And with that he smiled at them. "Good luck on your journey… I hope our paths meet again."

Ayo nodded and they all bowed to Kovu. "Thank you for your hospitality." Ayo said before turning and walking off and away from Pride Rock, his pride following.

…

When Amadi and Taj came back the next morning they came back to a chaotic Pride Rock. The pride was all a whisper about the midnight leave of Ayo's pride, and Dalia was a complete mess. Kovu had given her the message from Ayo, telling her that Ayo wanted Amadi to explain it, and Kiara was trying her hardest to comfort her daughter. Dumaka sat with his mother, his mate near by.

Amadi walked in and went to his father. "Hey dad… What's going on?" Amadi asked curiously.

Kovu sighed and looked at him. "Ayo left last night with his pride." He said softly, looking to Dalia. "She's not taking it too well."

"He didn't take her with him?" Amadi asked, tilting his head curiously. "Wasn't that the plan."

"Well, Ayo said you would explain it to Dalia…" Kovu said. He smiled comfortingly when he saw Amadi's expressions. "I think he's right… If he wasn't brave enough too you're the next best, I think… "

"if I tell her the truth she'll hate me." Amadi said in a hushed tone. "She wouldn't understand… she would blame me… Couldn't you tell her."

"If you want me too I will… But you should be the one. Ayo asked, and Dalia might understand it more from you then Ayo or from me…" Kovu said with a serious look.

Amadi sighed softly… "Yea… I guess your right…" he said with a half hearted smile. He then walked up to Dalia. "Hey, sis…I think I need to talk to you."

She turned to Amadi with tearful eyes. "He's gone, Amadi! He left! He left me! I don't understand it." Dalia said, shaking her head with confusion. "Daddy said that you knew what happened. That Ayo told you to tell me what he couldn't… please… I need to know."

Amadi stared at his sister before sitting down and placing a paw on her shoulder. "This is going to be hard, lil sis." He said softly. Slowly, he went through the events that happened weeks before the fight, and then lead up to the fight and what it was about. "It's because of me…"

Dalia shook her head in disbelief. "But…But he told me that he was done with that. That he loved me… That he grew out of it." Dalia said, shaking her head slightly.

"Dalia… From I know and from what I have experienced it is something that…that you never really grow out of." Amadi said softly. "I swear I had nothing to do with this. I'm with Taj… I'm happy with Taj. But Ayo wasn't ok with that… That's what caused the fight…. He… He wanted me back. I told him to stop acting this way… I was done with him… but he wouldn't listen. Trust me when I say that I am so sorry. I never wanted this for you…"

Dalia didn't know what to say, but nodded slightly, staring at the ground in shock. "I… I need some space… Please.. Please just leave me alone." She said in a bitter tone, shaking her head again before getting up and walking into the den.

Amadi sighed, not really knowing what to say or do. Taj came up to him and licked him softly. "I think that is the best your going to get right now." He said softly.

Amadi nodded and sighed before going to the peek of Pride Rock to look over the horizon. He didn't know what to make of this situation. He felt bad for Dalia, but maybe this was for the best…


	15. The Future and its Youth

Ever since Ayo had left balance had restored to the function of the Pride. Everyone was working well together, and everyone was happy. Everyone with the exception of Dalia. She had fallen for Ayo, she had loved him, and to find out that her love had been horribly misplaced crushed her. If lions could love other lions, and lie about it, how could she trust anyone? Her mother tried to explain to her that the act of same sex love was very rare in the lion world, Dalia didn't listen. She knew the possibility of meeting yet another homosexual lion was very unlikely, but the broken heart inside of her made it difficult to even try to search out the comfort of another male. Not that there were any around anyways. If she wanted love she would have to leave the pride. There were far too many lions in the pride and it would be very unlikely that Kovu would allow it. There needed to be a balance, regardless of sexuality of the two proceeding males.

Not only was Dalia heart broken and unsatisfied with life, she held some resentment towards Amadi. Not that it was his fault, and deep down she knew that. But the irrationality of her emotions told her that Amadi took this love away from her and sent it away. Amadi ruined Ayo, and so ruined her love for him.

Kiara didn't know what more she could tell her daughter to try to make her happy. She wanted to see Dalia happy but knew that healing of the heart took time and patience. Kovu was agitated by it all. The Pride was finally balanced, finally complete and together, and he knew that Ayo leaving was right for their future, and yet, it was frustrating that not even this once could things go right. The Pride may he happy, but Dalia was angry with Amadi. Why couldn't things be happy and perfect for a change?

Amadi often tried to get closer to Dalia, but their conversations were often short winded and lacking in sincerity. Taj and Dumaka both told him that he should just give her space and she would come around. But Amadi couldn't help but sympathize with his sister. He too knew what it was like to feel alone and rejected, and he would never wish that upon anyone.

"I just wish I could do something about it…" Amadi said to Taj as they sat on the ledge that was famously known for the leisurely place of Scar. Not that Amadi or Taj knew that of course, it was just their favorite place to get away from everyone and have some personal time. "Like if I could find her a rogue. Like I found you!"

Taj shrugged slightly and sighed. "You can't just find someone for someone. Dalia has to find a lion for herself." He said softly.

"Yea…But that would mean that she has to leave…" He said softly, letting out a long sigh. "How else would she find someone? There wont be any new males in the pride, and that's how the other lionesses that aren't the queen, makes cubs."

"Well, that's just the way things are, I suppose. I'm not entirely sure, I suppose. I mean, I haven't really been a pride until now." He said with a slight sigh. "maybe when Dumaka goes back home she'll go with him. I think he said that there was at least one other male in that pride."

Amadi sighed and nodded. "I suppose. It's just that Dalia and I use to be so close. And after everything that's happened with Ayo, and what has being going on in our lives I just want to be her friend again. If she leaves with Dumaka I'll be left without my siblings. Without my family. Without my friends."

Taj licked him softly on one of his ears. "Come now, you have your family, your mother and father are still here. And I'll be here too. I know it might not be the same, but Dalia will have to take whatever path is right for her to be happy. And you have to be ready to accept and approve of that."

Amadi nodded and leaned himself against Taj's mane, nuzzling into its warmth. "I suppose so…" He said softly, rolling onto his stomach, looking up at Taj. "There is another thing we need to talk about, Taj… It's something Ayo mentioned to me before the fight. Something that I've realized to be true."

Taj's eyes glistened with a sense of frustration when Amadi mentioned Ayo, but he had to control his feelings and let the past be the past. "And what is that?"

"How am I going to continue the circle of life?" He asked with hesitant eyes. "I mean… You and I can't have cubs… I understand that. But we need an heir. I need to continue the circle of life. I need to somehow continue my families genes."

"Couldn't we just let one of the cubs to be born take up the position?" Taj asked uncomfortably.

"I thought of that too. But the same blood line has be transferred since the dawn of Pride Rock… If I didn't have my own cubs I would be ending a legendary blood line." Amadi said, licking at Taj's face, trying to make light of the matter.

"How would you do that…How would that be even possible?" Taj asked with curious, and irritated eyes.

"Well… I would have to find a female who would be ok with it, and--"

"No! No no no! No…" Taj said, shaking his head, jealously instantly hitting his heart. "You don't even like lionesses like that. You can't do that."

"Taj, I need to be able to continue the family line. Were lucky we can even be together, we at least need to respect the great traditions." Amadi said, firmly this time as he tried to state his authority. "And besides, it would just be so we could have a son. We need a lioness to carry our cub, or cubs. I need to pass on my families blood."

"Couldn't Dalia provide it? That way it would still be you blood, and there would be an heir." Taj said with frustration, trying his hardest to get out of this situation. Truth be told, he didn't even know if he wanted to start a family. He had forgotten about that duty when he decided to mate with Amadi. Who was he to father cubs?

"Oh yea, I'm going to steal a cub from my sister. She would never go for that! Besides, you said it yourself, she'll probably leave." He said with a sigh. He then rolled onto his stomach and looked up at Taj sheepishly. "Besides… I kind of… Want a cub of my own…"

Taj blinked and gave him a look. "….We should have thought about this earlier…" He said, looking away from him.

Amadi gave him an irritated look. "What's there to think about? I need a cub to pass on my genes! And I want one. It's not like I'm going to marry this lioness or anything like that. I just need a carrier. I'm sure one of them would go for it…" He said in a rushed, angry tone. "I mean, really?! What's the harm. It would be a one time thing just so we can have cubs….Or do you not want cubs?"

Taj didn't look at him or say anything. Amadi looked shocked and hurt. "So that's it? You could care less about me mating with a female, what your really hung up on is the fact that you don't want cubs!" He yelled, standing up. "Taj, your in a pride now. It's not just about you anymore. You have to start thinking of your future with me, and with this Pride, and the duties you have to us."

And with that Amadi stormed off, frustrated with his mate. How could Taj not thought about this already? It was bound to happen the moment Taj agreed to come back with him and be his king! Amadi walked into the den to sit down and cool off. Glancing about at the lionesses he began to think about it. How much he wanted a cub eventually. He never really thought about it before. But with Dalia's rants about how she was alone and would never bear cubs, honestly, made him think about it. And he had gotten excited about it. But now he didn't know. Would he have his own cub? Would Taj be willing to play a father role? He really didn't know.

Sorry for the short ass chapter. I basically made it to update the story, and let the people who have been commenting lately know I plan on finishing the story.


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